Star Wars: Fate of the Jedi: Deception
by DhuryamDhuryam
Summary: 56 ABY: Post Crucible: Part 5 of my FOTJ continuation. The Celestials return! Mysterious visitors come, warning of beings called the Destroyers? But who are the real destroyers? How will Luke Skywalker's new love interest complicate matters? And Darth Plagueis' One Sith and Lost Tribe have formed an alliance. More will also be revealed about the mysterious Anti-Force.
1. Chapter 1

Dramatis Personae

Allana Solo Solusar; Jedi Knight (female human)

Ben Skywalker; Jedi Knight (male human)

Darth Krayt; Sith Lord (male human)

Darth Plagueis; Sith Lord (male dark side manifestation)

Darth Wyyrlok; Sith Lord (male Chagrian)

Dif Scaur; Galactic Alliance Chief of State and Intelligence Director (male human)

Drikl Lecersen; Moff (male human)

Han Solo; Captain, _Millennium Falcon_ (male human)

Leia Organa Solo; Jedi Knight (female human)

Luke Skywalker; Jedi Grand Master (male human)

Nek Bwua'tu; Galactic Alliance Admiral (male Bothan)

Seff Hellin; Jedi Knight (male enteched human)

Thrace Solusar; Jedi Knight (male Chiss)

Zedekiah Gattereld/Zeus; Imperial Head of State and Moff (male Terran)

 ** _Void Demon_** **: near Nam Chorios**

Zedekiah Gatterweld, better known by his own people as Zeus, kept his true level of excitement hidden. Floating some distance from his Star Destroyer was a great armada of the most beautiful vessels he'd ever seen. Magnificent gems set within an onyx sky.

He'd seen holos of them before, but this was the real thing. Most of the ships were Terran War cruisers. They were split into two deep brown gem-like sections, a lozenge followed by a sphere half the size. Three thick blades resembling silver-white diamond ran the length of this lozenge, and were arrayed a bit like the wings of a TIE Defender. Similarly arrayed around the sphere, but offset, were three wings of the same material as the blades.

One of the vessels was quite a bit larger than the others, about three fourths the size of an _Executor_ -class Star Destroyer. The first two thirds of the ship was an elongated saucer that was rather flat on top. On the top were a pair of parallel blades which were angled outward. And there was a single, gently curved blade on the bottom. The aft third was shaped a bit like an elongated egg. It had two large, down swept wings and then a smaller, third wing on the top. Zeus immediately recognized her as the _Olympus Mons_ , the only Terran Annihilation cruiser still in existence.

"Sir," said Gatterweld's chief comm. officer, "the larger ship is hailing us."

"Put them on, please," taking care to keep the excitement from his voice.

Seconds later a beautiful human-like female face appeared on the forward view screen. Her eyes were a striking purple with tiny silver flecks. The matching purple hair which framed her face further piqued his interest, as most Terrans had hair so dark it was almost black. Her slightly pale skin had a very subtle purple hue, and her ears were slightly pointed. She was just a kid; probably not even in her mid eighties. "My name is Irisia, Grand Admiral of the Terran Military and Commander of the Terran Annihilation cruiser the _Olympus Mons_."

"I am Imperial Head of State Moff Zedekiah Gatterweld and Commander of the Star Destroyer the _Void Demon_." He wished to the Force that he could tell this girl who he truly was. That he was one of her people, but this was not allowed. Irisia could not know the truth. Not until the Destroyers were dealt with, at least.

 ** _Errant Venture_** **: Orbiting Kuat**

The _Millennium Falcon_ sat upon the flight deck of the _Errant Venture_ , the Star Destroyer which housed the Jedi Academy. The _Falcon_ currently served as a gathering place for the Skywalker/Solo clan; if not by blood then by marriage.

It was currently time for tea in the main living area. Allana and Thrace sat together on one side of the room's couch, while Jaina and Jag were seated on the other. The Fels' daughter, Mara Padme, sat between the two couples, with her legs folded up beneath her. Mara Padme's face looked like a younger version of Jaina's, but her hair was more of a dark blonde, like her grandmother, Leia's.

"My due date is only about a month before yours," Jaina told her niece, Allana, excitedly. Both women had been pregnant for less than two months so there were no outward signs of the newly conceived lives existing within them. But in the Force, if one looked deeply enough, they would 'see' these vibrant sparks of life.

"You and Allana should just throw a joint baby shower, then," suggested Allana's husband, Thrace. All this talk of babies was a welcome distraction from the craziness of these last few days.

The galaxy had nearly fallen to mostly-mechanical beings called the Nephilim. They were a matte black color like a StealthX, and the size of a wookiee. The face, if it could be called that, consisted of two red visors, one over the other. Like the Yuuzhan Vong, these monsters existed apart from the Force. But light years more disturbing was the fact that these Nephilim actually registered in the Force. They appeared to belong to a purely evil entity for now called the Anti-Force. Such a thing had never even occurred to Allana. She'd been brought up believing the supreme struggle was between the light and dark sides of the Force. That the light was good, and the dark was evil. But now she wasn't quite sure what to think, except that things were far more complicated than she'd once thought.

Jag snatched up his comm. as it buzzed to life. "Hello, Admiral Bwua'tu... Sure, we'll be right there." He turned to Jaina. "Bwua'tu wants us on the _Turk Brand_."

"Bugger," Jaina muttered. She turned her head slightly, and directed a playfully pleading look up at Jag.

"Sorry, love," her husband apologized. "Being cute won't stop us from having to go."

Jaina sighed. "Fine," she grumbled, as though she was a moody teenage girl. "Let's get this over with."

"I'm finishing my tea, first."

"We'll keep an eye on Mara Padme for you," Allana said, gently squeezing her younger cousin's shoulder.

 ** _Turk Brand_**

"Admiral Bwua'tu," Jaina said, following Jag's lead, and shaking the Bothan man's hand. "It's a pleasure to meet you."

"Why do I feel like you don't really mean that?" Bwua'tu asked.

"It's not you, sir," Jag said. "It's... tea. Which we were drinking."

Jaina shook her head. "Please excuse my husband," she apologized. "Why are we here?"

"Moff Gatterweld wishes to speak with us," the admiral responded.

"Over holo, I take it," Jag assumed, somewhat sourly. He'd only met Zedekiah Gatterweld in person once, when Jaina conveniently happened to be otherwise occupied. The Moff seemed to go out of his way to stay away from the Jedi; the man was obviously hiding something. Another thing that bothered Jag was just how much he admired Moff Gatterweld. Jag did not like Moffs, except for the late Vitor Reige, but Jag had never considered Reige to be a true Moff. Zedekiah was too charismatic, too likable. His record was far too clean and respectable. And the man's Imperial accent was so perfect and polite. Jagged Fel shouldn't have liked the bloke, but he did. He knew never to trust such a person.

As an answer to Jag's assumption, a holographic rendering of Moff Gatterweld's head and upper torso came to life. Greetings, which in this case really were meaningless, were quickly exchanged. "You recall a woman named Andromeda who claimed to be one of the Celestials, yes?"

"Yes, of course," Jag responded, starting to have an idea of where this conversation was going. "She was instrumental in helping us defeat the Nephilim."

"It appears that her people have returned to our galaxy in force. The commander of their lead ship wishes to speak with representatives of the Galactic Alliance and the Jedi."

* * *

 **Several hours** later, a trio of closely grouped starbursts were cast out of hyperspace, several kilometers from the world of Kuat. They resolved themselves into ships, two of which were a little smaller than the standard Star Destroyer, while the third was close to the size of the _Turk Brand_.

Standing on one of the _Turk Brand's_ multiple flights decks were Admiral Bwua'tu, Jaina, Jag, and Grand Master Luke Skywalker. "They look like they're made of diamonds," Jaina commented, as she studied the screen on a small datapad. The main body resembled a chocolate diamond, while the wings and blades were a silver-white. Where the two main sections of the body seemed to join together, along with where different colored components met was a material resembling gold. Jaina knew it couldn't really be gold, since that was a rather soft metal. "Those are the most beautiful ships I've ever seen."

"I'll bet they have plenty of female shipwrights," Jag remarked.

Jaina shot her husband a dirty look. "Don't make me hit you."

"Oh, look," Jag interrupted, pointing through the invisible magcon field, toward an approaching fighter. "I believe our visitor is on their way."

Shortly thereafter a sort of snub fighter, reminiscent of an E-wing, was alighting on the flight deck. The craft appeared to be made of the same materials as the three Celestial capital ships, its sparkling color standing in sharp contrast to the grayish hangar bay. The vessel sported a down-swept wing on either side, and a third, smaller wing on the top. The cockpit quickly slid back, disappearing into the body of the fighter.

A stunningly beautiful woman with long violet hair seemed to nearly leap out of the small ship, and onto the flight deck. Her slitted, feline-like eyes matched her hair, and had metallic-looking silver flecks. She had slightly sharp, but lovely facial features.

She wore a well fitting suit of armor. Most of the pieces were outlined in purple. The inner area was silver, with reliefs of what looked like flames.

What resembled chain mail covered the inner area of the upper leg and upper arm. This 'chain mail' also protected other gaps in the armor paneling. Set into the armor on the side of her upper right leg was some sort of holster in which sat a purple crystal with a black, metal-like material curling around it. Luke could feel the Force within this crystal, flowing into her. There must have been some sort of conductive material allowing Force energy to move through at least part of the flight suit.

Luke felt her reaching out gently, through the Force, clearly taking the measure of her welcoming party. Luke did the same with her. He sensed no hostility. In fact, he felt grave concern. And brain damage like Andromeda had.

"My name is Irisia, Commander of the Terran Annihilation cruiser _Olympus Mons_ ," the woman said, extending her hand. "I understand that it is a customary greeting to clasp hands and... shake them."

"You are well informed, Irisia," Luke said, for some reason determined to be the first to shake her hand. Small purple plates of armor protected her hands. The fingers and thumbs were encased in segmented silver armor. The knuckles ended in small blades. The feet were similar. He finally managed to tear his eyes away, and felt a sense of mild amusement from Irisia.

"There is a matter of great urgency that we must discuss," Irisia said, her amusement switching back to concern. "Is there is a designated place to discuss such matters?"

"Yes," Luke said, helping to set Bwua'tu and Jag's mild concern at ease. "Admiral, why don't you lead the way." In short order the five were in one of the _Turk Brand's_ ops rooms, seated around one of the oval table's rounded ends. Luke had, for some reason, made it a point to sit next to Irisia.

"Our people recently learned that beings we refer to as the Destroyers will soon be returning to this galaxy," Irisia began. "It is for this reason that we have also returned. We first encountered them hundreds of thousands of years ago. Shall I assume you are all familiar with the tsils of Nam Chorios?"

"Yes," Luke said.

"Our people seeded the world with modified lambents, which over time grew to become these tsils. Among other things they can act as quantum crystals, enabling instantaneous communication. These Destroyers destroyed the fleet we had stationed there, murdering many of our people. And then their vessels bombarded Nam Chorios. We still don't know why." Though her voice was completely under control, Luke could feel her anger, sadness, and confusion.

"I understand that your galaxy recently fought against beings called the Nephilim," Irisia said.

"We did," Luke said. He began to notice that her skin had a nearly imperceptible purplish hue. As did most of the silver colored material in her armor, save for the flames.

"I'm sure Andromeda told you about them," Irisia said, looking at the floor.

"She did," Luke responded. "The Destroyers were responsible for corrupting their programming, I'm guessing."

"Yes. I know that Andromeda died helping your galaxy defeat them. She was a close friend."

"I'm sorry," Luke said, resisting the urge to pat her armored hand. "Andromeda didn't seem to know about these Destroyers. And she never said anything about you."

"We needed to limit the information she had in the case that she somehow fell into enemy hands. We wanted to help defeat the Nephilim, but we also wanted to avoid alerting the Destroyers to our activities. That's also why we refrained from sending one of our fleets; it wasn't out of cowardice."

"That makes sense," Luke said. Something felt off, but he managed to keep it from Irisia's perception. He didn't like doing it, but he felt it was necessary.

"You mentioned that these Destroyers would be coming to this galaxy," Admiral Bwua'tu mentioned.

Irisia nodded. "Like us, they spent many ages in another dimension. It wasn't the same one we'd gone to, of course. Their world disappeared in a region you call the Chiloon Rift. And now space is expanding there, around a monolith that they stole from us. This will eventually form a tear in the fabric of space time."

"Perhaps we could disable this monolith," Bwua'tu suggested. "So that they never come at all."

"There are other ways they can get in," Irisia warned. "By letting them enter via our stolen monolith, we'll know exactly where they are. Even now, we have envoys meeting with other nations, discussing the most effective way to eliminate this threat. I will give you time to discuss these matters amongst yourselves."

"That would be greatly appreciated," the admiral said.

Irisia stood up, and saw herself out.

"Well?" Admiral Bwua'tu asked after Irisia had left.

"I do trust her. She's telling the truth, or at least what she believes is the truth," Luke Skywalker said. "But she has the same kind of brain damage Andromeda had, so who knows what could have been erased from her memory?"

Jag nodded. "And if memories can be erased, maybe they can be implanted, too."

"There's that, too," Luke said, frowning. "So how much of what she's saying can we actually believe? It's whoever manipulated her memories, and those of likely most of the other Terrans, that I don't trust."

"How do we know these Terrans aren't actually the real Destroyers?" Bwua'tu asked. "And then who would the so called Destroyers be? What if they're actually the Celestials?"

"I wonder if all this has occurred to Irisia," Jaina said. "If I was her, I'd have some serious doubts..."

"So would I. I'll have to see what the Force has to say," Luke said. The Jedi Master wasn't quite sure what to think. And his level of attraction to Irisia was a bit... concerning. If he'd simply found her to be beautiful, that would have been one thing. But it was more than that. Luke hated all this uncertainty. _I'll have to see what the Force has to say._


	2. Chapter 2

**_Errant Venture_**

The entirety of the Skywalker/Solo clan, along with a few others, had gathered in the pilots' lounge. The Imperial Head of State, whom Han had nicknamed Zed Gat, which had elicited an eye roll from Luke, was about to give a speech. Unlike most government speeches, this one would not be broadcast for regular civilians. That would have made it far too easy for the Destroyers to intercept it. The heavily encrypted data bursts would be beamed directly, via hypercomm., to a number of specific vessels in various nations. Those vessels could, in turn, beam this message to other vessels. The _Turk Brand_ would be sent one of these data bursts, and would be sending it to the _Venture_ , along with a number of other vessels.

"I think it's called a crush," Ben teased with a bit of a smirk, before taking a large bite from his sandwich.

Luke an eyebrow. "She looks like she's your age."

"But she's not," Ben said, his voice slightly muffled from the food in his mouth. "If you like her-" Luke gently, playfully smacked the back of his son's head. "Do you think _I'd_ like her?" Ben asked.

"Oh Void, Ben," Jaina groaned. "She's probably at least sixty."

Ben shrugged. "Got no problem dating an older woman."

"She is pretty cute," Luke admitted.

Leia shook her head at the ridiculous exchange. "I can't wait until Zed Gat's speech..." She trailed off as the official Imperial seal appeared on the previously blank holovision, set to a previously blank channel. The seal was soon replaced by a view of a podium, behind which stood Imperial Head of State Moff Gatterweld. He was a tall man with lean features, and dark hair. He must have dyed his hair to make himself look younger.

"Only days ago, our galaxy was attacked by a great evil. An ancient army of monsters called the Nephilim. They forced us to put aside our differences, and to fight as one. And we learned an invaluable lesson, that we are far stronger together than we are apart. We learned that there is no human or non-human. No Empire or Galactic Alliance. There are just people. Our newfound unity is what allowed us to vanquish these demons.

"Now, as many of you may know, the Celestials have just returned to our galaxy. They bring with them grave news of the return of an ancient and powerful enemy they call the Destroyers. These same Destroyers are the ones responsible for unleashing the Nephilim. These Destroyers were complicit in all the death and destruction caused by the Nephilim. I fear that these Destroyers will be even more powerful.

"These Celestials, who call themselves the Terrans, have sent envoys to other nations so that we may launch a coordinated attack. These Destroyers are a cancer, and we must destroy that cancer before it can spread."

The Moff's speech seemed to devolve into near gibberish as he continued to drone on. Luke found Irisia stuck in the forefront of his mind. Maybe he did like her. Was he ready for that? He knew he'd never be able to get over Mara. But why was he so interested in a woman he'd met just yesterday?

* * *

 _ **Luke found** before him the great, endless void of space, dotted with innumerable pinpricks of silver fire. The Jedi Master felt himself being taken forward, to a pair of these stars. But these were not stars; they were eyes. There just seemed to stare at him._

 _A sense of profound unease descended upon him, like a heavy, suffocating blanket, as those eyes began to fill with a peculiar inky blackness. Could it be Abeloth? It was quite possible that just a part of her had been destroyed by the Mortis Dagger._

 _But as those eyes continued to darken and fill completely... It just didn't feel right. This presence was darker than Abeloth. She had become a monster because she'd been tormented. But this was a monster because it did the tormenting. It despised Luke Skywalker; he had never felt such hatred. Had never imagined such hatred could even be possible. The black eyes seemed to glow, but with darkness rather than light. And the toxic smell of sulfur hung heavy in the... air._

 _Luke thought back to a few days ago, when he'd led that boarding party onto that disabled Nephilim ship. The day the Jedi Order learned there was something other than the Force. Something in complete opposition to the Force. It was death, and it wanted to destroy everything._

Luke was lying in his bed, soaked with sweat. He found that he wished Irisia was lying beside him. He'd have found comfort holding her, and looking into her beautiful eyes. Eyes glowing with light, not darkness.

 ** _Turk Brand_**

Once again, Luke Skywalker, Admiral Bwua'tu, and Jaina and Jag Fel had joined Irisia in the ops room. "I'm not sure what it all means," Luke was saying. "But I know I can trust you; the Force showed me that."

"I'm glad you trust me," Irisia said. "And, burning waters of Styx, I do know what you're talking about. My people call it the Aether. Based on our conclusions, we believe it wants to destroy everything that the Force has created. And some even believe the Aether wants to create something of its own."

"Well, that's worse than I expected," Jaina commented. "If something as horrible as Abeloth exists in the Force... I don't even want to know what something created by this Aether would be like."

"Neither do I," Irisia agreed. "I have no memories of anything created by it, but I recall rumors that the Aether had begun to... subvert the Nephilim. Which you, Luke, have confirmed. The used to exist in the Force. They became increasingly depraved, and the Force had no choice but to abandon them. The Aether eventually took notice."

"That's what happened to the Yuuzhan Vong, except for that last part," Luke commented.

Irisia frowned. "There are also stories of Yuuzhan Vong being corrupted by the Aether."

"We've never encountered any like that," Luke said, growing more concerned by the moment.

"Then the real threat has not come yet," Irisia warned.

"Could that be what the Destroyers are?"

"I don't believe so. These Destroyers use mechanical ships. The Destroyers must have reactivated the Nephilim to weaken this galaxy's defenses, and so that these yet-to-arrive Yuuzhan Vong didn't have to deal with them." An eerie silence fell over the group, punctuating Irisia's grim words.

"Well," Luke said, a bit awkwardly, "since you've given us a whole lot of bad news, I think it's only fair that we give you some of our own."

Irisia nodded, with a cute, little smile. "Please, tell me how else this galaxy is going to Hades."

"I'm guessing you spoke with a Moff Gatterweld," Luke said.

"I did, via comm.," she said.

"Ah. So neither you nor any of your people have met with him in person," Luke reasoned.

"No."

"None of the Jedi have met him in person, either. He goes out of his way to avoid us."

Irisia frowned. "He's hiding something, then."

"He must be concerned that a Force user would be able to learn his secret," Luke agreed. "He could be working with the Sith. It does make an odd sort of sense. With his _apparent_ animosity toward Lecersen, whom we know _is_ working with the Sith, Gatterweld would be one of the last people one would expect."

"We don't know much about the bloke," Jag commented. "A few decades before I was born, he was an ensign aboard an Imperial vessel, a Super Star Destroyer called the _Iron Fist_. And just few years ago, he became a Moff."

Irisia seemed mildly alarmed. "And you don't know what he was doing in between."

Jag shook his head. "But maybe it has something to do with why he refuses to meet with Force users. I've met him once before, when Jaina was conveniently occupied elsewhere. He's a bit of an... oddball. He always seemed to have his hand in his pocket. And he has this bizarre, mildly macabre sense of humor. He'd get this stupid smirk on his face whenever he told a joke. It was a bit... disturbing."

"This may sound a bit off the bulkhead, but what if Gatterweld is one of these Yuuzhan Vong Irisia mentioned?" Admiral Bwua'tu asked.

"It would explain why he seems to be fighting against Lecersen and, by extension, the Sith," Jag pointed out.

Luke groaned. "So those eyes I saw were Gatterweld's. If that's the case, then we'll have to do something."

"Without Chief of State Dif Scaur finding out," Jaina added. "He's practically in Gatterweld's pocket. Which is ironic given that Scaur supported using a biological weapon against the Yuuzhan Vong."

"Well," Luke said, "whatever the case, I still think we should go ahead with our attack on these Destroyers."

"I'm glad to hear you say that," Irisia commented. "So perhaps we should discuss our respective assets, and determine how to best use them."

* * *

 **"Is there** someplace we could talk?" Irisia asked Luke after the briefing had ended, and everyone had left the ops room. He could sense a deep sadness floating to the surface of her mind.

"I'm sure we can find a place," Luke told her. "I'm guessing it's about Andromeda."

"It is," Irisia glanced briefly at the floor. "She wasn't just a close friend, she was my daughter. The way you talked about her yesterday, it sounded like you knew her."

"Not as much as I'd have liked to, but yeah," Luke said. "I know what it's like to lose someone you love." He sensed a surge of emotion from Irisia; she quickly pushed it down. "We could talk in my ship; we'd have a lot more privacy," He suggested, noticing they were already headed toward the hangar bay.

"Lead the way," Irisia said, sounding relieved by his suggestion.

Luke brought Irisia to a sleek, silver-gray vessel. "This is the _Jade Shadow_. It belonged to my wife, Mara Jade. She's... not here anymore."

"I am so sorry," Irisia said.

"Thanks," Luke said, grateful that she didn't seem intent on prying. "So, shall I give you a tour?"

"That would be nice," Irisia responded.

"The entry hatch is Force-activated," Luke said, _reaching_ out toward the SoroSuub _Horizon_ -class Star Yacht. "It really helps cut down on unwanted visitors." The hatch opened, allowing a boarding ramp to unfold. Irisia followed Luke into the ship.

"Is there a place I could put my armor?" Irisia asked.

"You can put it somewhere by the boarding ramp," Luke suggested. "I could see how it could get uncomfortable after a while."

"It's not so much that the armor gets uncomfortable, it's just more comfortable not to wear it," Irisia explained as she began to remove it. She placed the various components in neat pile. Underneath was a black flight suit, to which her weapon remained attached. Next, she removed her gloves, and placed them on a small shelf. Luke picked one up; it had a sort of flexible connection ring, somewhat resembling a rubber band. Luke picked up a piece of her armor; he was surprised by how light it felt. "It's a carbon fiber/alloy composite," Irisia explained.

"That's what I thought."

"I'm sure it is," Irisia said dryly. She unzipped the top part of her flight suit some, but remained modest. She then reached behind her, and unfastened something on the back of her flight suit. A long slender tail, ending in an arrowhead-shaped stinger, appeared behind her. "She starts to protest if I don't let her out often enough."

"That's really cute, how you refer to your tail," Luke commented, with a smile.

"Tails have feelings, too."

"I'd imagine, so."

* * *

 **"This is** a beautiful ship," Irisia commented, after Luke had shown her around.

"She sure is," he agreed, not quite sure what, or whom, he was really referring to.

She smiled, revealing a number of small, dagger-like teeth. "You can't seem to take your eyes off me."

"You're my guest; it would be rude not to pay attention to you."

Irisia snorted softly "You're paying attention to me because you're attracted to me."

"You got me," Luke conceded. He did find it a little odd that he was attracted to a woman who looked like she wasn't even thirty, though she was probably at least in her seventies. He brought two cups of caf to the table in the galley, and sat down on one of the bench seats. "I haven't been interested in anyone since..."

Irisia nodded, a certain sadness coming over her expression. "Andromeda lost her parents at an early age, so I took her in and raised her as my own."

Luke placed his left hand over her right. "If you don't want to…"

"I need to talk to someone about this... before we face the Destroyers."

"Well in that case..."

* * *

 ** _Irisia regained_** _consciousness with a horrible throbbing in her temples. Having such an extensive memory wipe apparently tended to do that. She felt a hand on her shoulder. Irisia opened her eyes to see Andromeda seated beside her._

 _"I'm going to stay with you until you've recovered," Andromeda told her. Irisia didn't want to recover. Not when she knew what it would mean for the person she loved most._

 _Irisia could see in Andromeda's expression that there was so much the younger woman wanted to tell her. "Don't you dare," she said, her tone torn between playfulness and sorrow. "I'd hate to have to go through another memory wipe. I feel dreadful." After a few minutes Irisia was able to sit up. Andromeda hugged her; when she pulled away, Irisia could see the fear in her eyes._

 _"I don't want to do this," Andromeda said, trying not to cry._

 _"It doesn't mean we'll never see each other again," Irisia told her. "After you help these people defeat the Nephilim… I won't be far behind. I'll find you again, Andromeda. You'll just have to get to know me all over again. That won't be so bad."_

 _"I know, but… I'm still scared."_

 _"I'm sure I was scared before I did this," Irisia said._

 _"You were."_

 _"And now I don't even remember being scared. You're going to be alright. I promise." Irisia moved her legs, experimentally. "I think I can walk, now."_

 _"I'll help you up."_

 _"Thank you," Irisia said as she used Andromeda's arm for leverage. The two hugged each other again, before Andromeda took her seat where she had been. Irisia kissed Andromeda's forehead before leaving the room. She wasn't allowed to see the technician who would be erasing part of Andromeda's memory. Irisia returned a while later to find Andromeda still unconscious. She wanted to just sit there, and watch her precious girl sleep. But Irisia had to get her into the pod before she woke. She kissed her daughter's forehead once more and, refusing to allow anyone to help her, got Andromeda into the pod. Irisia could feel her heart shattering as the pod was sealing itself up several minutes later._

* * *

 **Luke saw** tears forming in her eyes. She turned to him. "I promised her we'd see each other again."

"You couldn't have known what was going to happen," Luke said gently.

"But I knew it was a possibility."

"You were trying to comfort someone you love." Tears were falling down her cheeks, now. Luke felt bad that this beautiful woman was crying. She'd volunteered to tell him this, but he still felt like it was his fault. Luke slid over to her, and wrapped his arms around her. They just sat there like that for a few minutes. Irisia looked up at Luke, and he suddenly found that her mouth was pressed against his. She pulled away, apparently a bit surprised at herself. "It's okay," he said softly. "I just happen to have that effect on women."

"Of course you do," Irisia said, not entirely convinced.

"Andromeda became one of us," Luke said. He blew on his steaming beverage, and took a small sip.

"Andromeda didn't use the dark side; that's one of the reasons we sent her. I don't know if the Jedi would have trusted someone who used the dark side."

"Eventually, maybe," Luke said.

Irisia sipped her caf without blowing on it. "This is quite good," she said, not quite managing a smile. She finished the rest of her steaming drink in a couple of gulps.

"That was really hot," Luke commented, apparently meaning two things at once. Irisia shook her head in amusement. "Andromeda's staff weapon is actually aboard the _Venture_ right now."

Irisia smiled. "I'd love to see it again."

"I thought you would; I'll take you to it after I finish my caf."

"Do you... have any proficiency in its use?" Irisia asked.

"Uh, I have practiced with it some. Why do you ask?"

"I used to spar with Andromeda quite a bit," Irisia said a bit sadly. "It's something I really miss doing."

"So you'd like to spar with me," Luke reasoned.

"If you don't mind using Andromeda's weapon."

"I don't mind at all," Luke assured her. "Just go easy on me; I'm an old man."

"Older than seventy six?" Irisia asked, with a playful, little smirk.

Luke shook his head. "I'm only seventy five. So, you're about a year older than me." Irisia nodded. "You look great."

"Thank you."

Luke made a point to finish his drink, and then stood up. "Are you ready, yet?" he joked.

Irisia quickly wiped her eyes and cheeks to make sure they were dry, and stood up. "Certainly. But are you?"

"I guess we'll just have to find out," Luke said, leading the way out of the _Jade Shadow_ , and then closing the ship up. "So, what is your people's philosophy on the Force?" he asked, as they walked down one of the _Venture's_ corridors. "I used to believe that the dark side is evil, but things have recently happened which challenge that belief."

"The dark side is not evil at all," Irisia explained. "It can often seem evil, but this evil comes from those who see the dark as supreme to the light."

"Like the Sith."

Irisia nodded. "The dark side is mostly raw power, and without the influence of the light side it will corrupt the user."

"So the light side is still good," Luke reasoned.

"Yes, and it also contains the Force's wisdom."

"This is all pretty much what I've started to believe. Then the Force isn't about balance between good and evil."

Irisia frowned. "Evil must be gotten rid of."

"I agree with that," Luke said, stopping at a door.

"I can hear Andromeda's weapon," Irisia said excitedly. "Terran staff weapons are made to vibrate at a frequency other beings cannot hear."

"I can see where that would come in handy," Luke said, leading the way into an empty gymnasium. Dark gray mats covered most of the floor of the light gray room. The Jedi Grand Master walked over to one of several an equipment locker, and used the Force to unlock a hidden latch. He swung its door open, revealing a beautiful, multicolored crystal with three pieces of a dark alloy curling around it and joining together at either end.

Irisia made an exciting sort of squealing sound, and snatched the object up. She stroked it as though it were some small pet, and then held it against her chest for a short moment. The purple haired woman held the crystal out in front of her, and then clenched her fist. The pitch of the weapon lowered, to the point where Luke could hear. A soft pulsing came to life withing the crystal. The three light black 'fingers' surrounding the crystal began expanding outward. A pair of bulges appeared on either side of the crystal. Within each bulge formed a psychedelic point of light, which solidified into an almost-matter state. The ends of the weapon seemed to almost melt into sharp, serrated spear tips. Irisia tossed the spear to Luke, who caught it deftly. He gave the weapon several experimental twirls.

Irisia pulled her own weapon from her holster. The crystal was purple like her hair and eyes, and held sparkles of silver within. She clenched her right fist, causing the weapon to unfold quite like Andromeda's. But only one end formed into a spear tip. The other end had a short cylinder leading to a small sphere. The cylinder grew longer and gaps began to form so that it started to somewhat resemble a chain. Numerous gaps also appeared as the sphere expanded. Spikes, resembling skinny pyramids, pushed outward through the gaps. And a purplish pinpoint of light appeared inside the sphere. The chain unfurled, with the sphere stopping mere millimeters from the floor.

"Well, dang. This outta be fun. If I survive, that is," Luke said, with an awkward laugh.

Both combatants took a moment to center themselves in the light side of the Force. "One must center oneself in the light side before touching the dark," Irisia explained.

"Makes sen..." With a subtle tingle at the base of Luke's skull the only warning, Irisia came barreling forward. Luke blocked a brutal downward slash, and felt himself being pushed back. He barely managed to block a rapid flurry of blows, but couldn't stop Irisia from gaining more ground. The spike fell upon his weapon, nearly tearing it from his grasp. It was like fighting against a wookiee.

Luke drew on the Force to enhance his strength, and managed a violent blow of his own. He landed a few more blows on Irisia's staff, pushing her back a couple feet. She seemed mildly surprised, and Luke could feel her begin to draw on the dark side. But the vileness with which he'd associated the dark side wasn't there. In its place was a beautiful unity between the two sides of the Force. A strange, disturbingly calm rage came upon Irisia. She began pushing Luke back, now.

Luke responded by drawing more heavily on the light side. He surrendered himself to the Force, letting it guide his movements, and make his movements more efficient. Trying to match Irisia's brute strength would be a mistake. He began letting Irisia push him back, but then she stopped, apparently thinking it was some sort of ploy. But by doing so, she was falling into Luke's trap. He rained down a series of savage blows, and almost knocked her off balance a few times. Irisia began landing slightly heavier blows, trying to tire Luke out.

Luke's plan didn't seem to working that well. Realizing he had to make a big move, he suddenly dropped to his knees. He swung the staff toward Irisia's legs. She suddenly leapt into the air, just before Luke could make contact. He spun as she landed behind him, and managed to point a spear tip at the center of her chest. Irisia was just a bit later pointing her spear tip at him. Both she and Luke lowered their weapons, signifying the end of the match.

"I won," Luke said.

Irisia frowned. "Your shot would've taken me in the chest. But before I died, I could've gotten you in the head. So it's a tie."

Luke laughed. "You just don't wanna lose to an old geezer."

"That, too," she said with a flirtatious wink. "I really should be getting back to the _Mons_."

"And I should be heading back to my quarters so I can flop down on my bed and pass out," Luke responded, making his way back to his feet. He did have a few more questions, but they could wait.


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: New content has been added to the previous chapter. It starts after Irisia finishes her caf.**

 _ **Kuati Dagger**_ **: orbiting Kuat**

A Bothan woman stood beside the desk in Gavin Darklighter's office. Her emerald eyes were the only color in her face, bright against the silvery gray fur. A pale mane of long hair cascaded down her back like a curtain of silk. He found her quite attractive, and was immediately disgusted with himself. Only days ago he'd suffered the worst loss of his life, when his wife, Serah Faleur, and two daughters had been taken from him. How the Void could he be attracted to another woman...

"Gavin," she said. Why the Void was her voice so familiar? The Bothan woman lowered her head a bit, brought a finger to each eye, and removed a pair of contact lenses. She looked back up at Gavin, with two beautiful, violet eyes. A chill went throughout his entire body, while at the same time he suddenly felt very warm. His mind had to be deceiving him. Though her fur and hair were the wrong color, Gavin still recognized her. Asyr Sei'lar. But she had been killed in combat, in a collision with a TIE Bomber, years ago. How could she be…

"Asyr?"

She nodded.

Gavin just stood there a moment, his mouth hanging slightly open, as though he were a catfish. He tried to speak, but nothing would come out. He walked over to her. They just stood there a moment. Gavin embraced her, and kissed her forehead.

"I'm so sorry, Gavin," she whispered, "about... what happened to your... family."

"Uh, thanks," he said, releasing her.

"Iella Wessiri managed to get in touch with me. She told me what happened."

Gavin sighed, and ran a hand through his hair. "I put them on that vaping ship to protect them, and..."

Asyr placed a gentle hand on Gavin's shoulder. "Darth Krayt's the one to blame for that."

"I know," Gavin said. He was silent a moment. "You survived... the crash with that bomber. Why didn't you..."

"tell you? It broke me heart, not telling you." Asyr glanced, somewhat guiltily, toward her feet. "Borsk Fe'lya was making a real mess of things, and I had to undo some of the damage he had done. I knew you'd never be able to let me go..."

"unless I thought you were dead," Gavin finished.

Asyr nodded. "But things are different, now. Iella told me about everything that's been going on."

Gavin nodded. "If we hadn't just gone through that war with those Nephs... This whole thing with the Celestials showing up, warning us about these Destroyers, just doesn't sound that crazy after all that. I'm guessing that's part of the reason Iella got in touch with you."

Asyr nodded. "We figured if you knew I was still alive, it might motivate you..."

"to help fight those Destroyers... because I'm just that awesome," Gavin said, with a smirk, which Asyr followed up with an eye roll. "I'm just glad to have you back," Gavin said, his joking tone gone. "How long are you... staying?"

Asyr was silent a moment, and he was afraid of what her answer might be. He couldn't let her go, not again. He'd barely been holding on as it was. "I don't know, at least until this whole blasted thing's over," the beautiful Bothan woman finally said. "Do you... want me to stay longer?"

"Well... I do still love you." Gavin sighed, wondering if this could all actually be real. "But... if there's someone-"

Asyr's expression turned mildly hurt. "I couldn't. There's no way I could be with another man..."

Relief flooded through Gavin's body. "In that case, I'd love it if you stayed."

* * *

 **"I still** can't believe she's actually here," Admiral Gavin Darklighter told Mon Calamari Admiral Hiroyuki Niathal, a few hours later. The latter had recently been promoted to the rank of admiral, to take Gavin's place. The two sat at one end of the dark gray, oval shaped table in the _Kuati Dagger_ 's ops room, having a quick drink, and waiting for various military leaders to join them, via hologram.

"I am happy for you, Gavin. You are a good man..." The space above the seat at the table's other end shimmered briefly as Admiral Bwua'tu's likeness appeared in it. Materializing to Bwua'tu's right were Jagged Fel and his wife, Jaina Solo, followed by Luke Skywalker and a woman with long amethyst hair. That must have been Irisia, whom he'd read briefly about. Then to her right, and Darklighter's left, appeared the Bothan Admiral Traest Kre'fey. A round of pleasant greetings was quickly exchanged.

Admiral Darklighter suppressed a groan as Chief of State Dif Scaur and Moff Lecersen joined the group. Gavin had good reason not to trust the Chief of State. For one thing, Scaur had ordered the production of a number of Star Destroyers, two of which had basically been Super Star Destroyers, about which not even the military had known. Yes, the vessels had gone a long way toward defending the Alliance. Perhaps Scaur had been concerned about Imperial spies within the ranks of the military. But to not even tell Admiral Bwua'tu? Furthering Gavin's distrust of the Chief of State was the fact the Jedi didn't trust him, either. Admiral Darklighter considered himself a supporter of the Jedi, so he took their concerns seriously.

If Gavin distrusted Scaur, then he despised Lecersen and wanted to personally shove the murderer out a vaping airlock. The Imperial extremist and terrorist was an ally of the Sith. Gavin's hatred for these sorcerers had become personal when Krayt had murdered his wife and two daughters.

Next was Imperial Head of State Moff Gatterweld and the newly appointed Hapan Queen Mother Athena. Darklighter didn't know enough to know how he should feel about them. It was unknown whose side Gatterweld truly was on. But according to the Jedi, there was a possibility the Moff was one of the Destroyers! Gavin wondered how all that would work out. He assumed there would be another meeting after this to discuss how to deal with Gatterweld.

Before Gavin could think too much on that, the group entered into a detailed discussion of how best to deal with these Destroyers. Irisia kept the conversation somewhat vague, citing her concern over 'the slight possibility of the Destroyers listening in'. She did not, however, mention that Moff Gatterweld could be one of them. Gavin was certain the latter was the real reason.

Admiral Darklighter was impressed with Irisia's handling of Gatterweld potentially being a Destroyer. This information would be relatively obvious to the enemy. The purple haired Terran was simply making sure her people's allies knew what they needed to. After the two Moffs, Dif Scaur, and Athena departed, a less vague discussion, involving how to handle Gatterweld should he become a problem, ensued.

 _ **Turk Brand**_

Ben Skywalker was standing beside the _Jade Shadow_ , on one of the _Turk Brand's_ flight decks, when he spotted his father and a beautiful woman with purple hair walking toward him. Irisia looked to be around Ben's age, though he knew she had to be much older. Ben was a bit surprised to see them holding hands; they seemed to be growing close pretty quickly. But the Force worked like that sometimes.

"So, I finally get to meet my dad's new girlfriend," Ben said, his tone mildly teasing, after a quick introduction and handshake.

Irisia laughed softly. "Perhaps I am," she admitted, cutting off whatever Luke was about to say. "Perhaps after these Destroyers are dealt with, we could have a meal together."

Luke nodded. He turned to Ben. "You could bring Jysella along if you don't want to feel like an extra repulsor."

Ben felt his face heating up. "Valin told you we kissed, didn't he?"

His father chuckled. "No, Ben. You just did."

"Emperor's black bones," Ben muttered.

"Liking a girl isn't something to be ashamed of," Luke responded. "I've seen you talking to her a lot over the past few days."

"That doesn't mean..." Ben trailed off upon seeing the amused expression on Irisia's face.

"As much as I'd love to listen to the rest of this adorably awkward exchange, I really must get back to the _Olympus Mons_ ," Irisia said. She gave Luke a rather affectionate hug. "May the Force guide you."

"And you, too, Irisia," Luke responded, kissing her forehead.

"And all of us," Ben piped in, somewhat awkwardly. Irisia climbed quickly into her Lightningbird. The cockpit canopy slid into place as the fighter rose into the air, and turned toward the magcon field. A pair of sapphire-like engines flared to life, pushing the Lightningbird out into space, and toward the nearby Terran Annihilation cruiser. Ben turned to his father. "Just had to embarrass me, didn't you," he complained.

"You did the same thing to me, Ben. You really should know by now not to embarrass your father," Luke retorted. "But you may have a point. Irisia's amazing. But..." He sighed.

"Mom would want you to be happy. It wouldn't make you unfaithful... if you wanted to be with Irisia. Mom would like her."

 **A/N: Some real action's about to go down.**


	4. Chapter 4

**Chiloon Rift, near the Bubble**

The Chiloon Rift was a rather peculiar and hazardous place. Nowhere else in the galaxy were there such high concentrations of asteroids. They had proven to be an incredible source of various precious elements, so despite the danger posed to ships by these massive space rocks, all sorts of people had come to mine them. A reality show called _Tumbler Tuggers_ had even been created, based around the crew of the _Water Bear_.

Further adding to the Rift's eccentric nature was a region of space called the Bubble of the Lost. All make and manner of ships, whose crews had either abandoned them or died in them, floated lifeless through this region. And space here had been slowly expanding for ages, thanks to a mysterious, massive monolith, which may or may not have been the Mortis Monolith.

It was just outside this Bubble, that an enormous armada, hundreds of vessels strong, fell out of hyperspace. The Terran cruisers immediately proceeded to fan out into a sort of circular screen, along with the capital vessels of the Galactic Alliance, Empire, and Hapan Consortium. Thousands of fighters poured out of their carriers, and into open space.

Luke could feel the Force all around him as he and Ben lead Twin Suns Squadron into space. Currents of both the light side and the dark side were flowing together and around each other in such beautiful harmony. Along with Jedi pilots who'd been born able to touch the Force, there were the many others who'd gained this ability thanks to the drug called Midichlore. And then there were the Terran pilots, in their crystal-like Lightningbird fighters. The Jedi Master could feel that these Terran vessels, especially their cruisers, were actually alive in the Force. It was beautiful, and he knew he, along with the rest of the galaxy, had chosen the right side.

But Luke Skywalker knew something ugly was about to come, intent on violating this beauty. He braced himself for the violence which was soon to come. He could feel the fabric of space screaming as though some giant needle were trying to pierce it. Massive amounts of energy were building up within the Terran cruisers, the greatest of which came from the _Olympus Mons_ , waiting to send the demons back to the underworld.

* * *

 **Supreme Warmaster** Shotel Za's excitement grew as he felt the veil being torn asunder. He and his people had been waiting patiently for this for a little over a hundred years, in this small pocket dimension. Though outside this little domain, tens of thousands of years had actually passed.

The many small, naturally occurring tears allowed small and properly shielded vessels to easily travel between these two dimensions. Shotel Za had ensured that were always scientists and other qualified personnel to study this other dimension. As a result, Shotel Za knew how the hazards of the Chiloon Rift limited entry and exit vectors. He knew where the invaders would be when they left hyperspace. Shotel Za smiled as he thought about the safeguard he'd put in place. The invaders thought they were the predator, but they were soon to become the prey.

* * *

 **Luke experienced** a strange sense of unease as the void of space burst open, having been stretched beyond its capacity. There was a mighty flash of light as the gates of hell were thrown open. The Terran cruisers let loose with great, continuous columns of crimson fire exploding from their bows; the _Olympus Mons_ sported one of these beam weapons at the bow, and another at the tips of its two lower wings.

The dimming orb of light unleashed hellish geysers of orange hatred, as it resolved itself into hundreds of golden monolithic structures. Some were the same size, and had the same basic shape as that mysterious monolith at the center of the Bubble. Most of them, however, were much smaller, slightly larger than a _Carrack_ -class cruiser. They resembled elongated versions of their larger cousins. These were the oddest looking ships Luke ever seen. And beyond them lay an entire planet.

The deflector shields of the Terran cruisers and the Destroyers' vessels rippled ferociously as the two sides exchanged fire. Luke noticed a peculiar throbbing in the Force as the two opposing fleets drew nearer. The Terran vessels began to open up with individual bursts of energy from ruby-like turbolaser batteries. Quickly joining in, with less advanced weaponry, were the galaxy's native Star Destroyers, Mon Calamari cruisers, and Hapan Battle Dragons, among many other types of capital ships.

Luke frowned deeply; something just didn't seem right. This didn't feel like good fighting evil, it felt like good fighting... good. He looked at these Destroyers through the Force. What he found was not some agent of destruction, but a... magnificent glowing beacon. He'd never encountered anything so balanced. Light and dark in perfect harmony. It was pure and good, not the horrific evil Luke had faced in that dream. These people weren't monsters.

As though some spell had been broken, Luke suddenly found himself alarmed at how quickly he'd come to trust Irisia. And he'd come to... love her.

Terran and allied fighters surged forward toward... Luke didn't know who, or what, these so called Destroyers were anymore. Golden, dagger like fighters began appearing among the 'Destroyers' capital vessels. Luke and his son, Ben, also his wingmate, led Twin Suns squadron onward. Luke could feel a growing sense of worry from Ben, and his niece, Jaina, who led Flaming Swords squadron. It matched his own feelings. These people, in their golden ships, were not the enemy. But did that mean the Terrans were the enemy? What he'd felt in the Force from the Terrans, what he'd felt from Irisia, was a bit different but just as pure and good as what he'd felt from these 'Destroyers'.

The golden fighters drew closer; pilots were about to start killing each other...

Luke felt as though his heart had climbed its way up into his throat, upon realizing what needed to be done, and he hated himself for it. He had to betray the woman he had come to love. A woman whose love was beginning to heal him, from wounds he hadn't fully realized he still had. He commed the _Turk Brand_. "Bwua'tu, these 'Destroyers' aren't the enemy," he said, his voice threatening to break into a trillion pieces, along with his heart. "The Terrans have deceived us."

"Are you saying we should-"

"Join... the Destroyers?" Luke interrupted, feeling the Force shrieking at him like a TIE fighter. "Yes," he groaned, his soul eviscerating itself. He somehow knew neither Irisia nor any of the other Terrans would relent from their vendetta against this other species. What these Terrans were trying to do was genocide, and Luke Skywalker would not stand for it!

Admiral Bwua'tu sighed. "I trust your judgment, Luke. I'll inform the rest of my fleet." The Bothan's tone made it clear he knew Luke was doing this at great cost. "But if the Imps and Hapans aren't on board-"

"I know, Force blast it!" Luke snapped. "If they're not on board with this, it's gonna get real messy. But we can't stand by and watch these Terrans commit genocide."

"Very well. I'm sorry, Luke." With that, the comm. went dead.

"Twin Suns Leader here," Luke said. "Break off. The 'Destroyers' are no longer the enemy." He heard his fellow squadron mates acknowledge the order. And he could sense Jaina was giving Flaming Swords Squadron the same orders.

Luke felt Darth Krayt nudging him in the Force, with a sense of... approval. It made Luke feel even worse about what he'd just done to Irisia; that was probably part of Krayt's intent. But it also made it clear that the Sith and Lecersen's Imperial extremists would assist the Alliance. Moff Gatterweld would have to bring his moderate Empire over, or risk expanding the rift with Lecersen's radicals. And given the great debt the Hapes Consortium owed Gatterweld after he helped them end their civil war with the Freedom Federation, they would have to go along with him.

Almost as the one, the native vessels diverted their fire from the 'Destroyers'' golden monoliths to the crystalline Terran vessels. The latter's deflector shields began to vibrate even more angrily as their new enemies proceeded to assault them. The Terran ships returned the insult, quickly beginning to render the native ships into flaming hunks of slag. Native fighters and Terran Lightningbirds began to turn on another, resulting in frequent detonations on both sides; Luke could feel pilots and, to his surprise, Lightningbirds dying.

The Destroyers took advantage of their partial respite, and surged forward. They began to spread out, into a sort of bowl-shape, to surround their... prey. Beautiful orange sunsets began to eat away at the Terran armada, like digestive juices.

Swarms of the Destroyers' golden fighters sporting a pair of forward swept wings began to flit about, exchanging fire with the Lightningbirds. The Force began to writhe in agony as people who'd found balance between the light and dark sides began to murder each other. This wasn't right. But Luke just didn't see a right choice. He'd have to settle for the less wrong one; the less unforgivable sin.

As Luke and Ben began dueling with a pair Lightningbirds, he caught a glimpse of a massive, elongated orb rippling with orange fire. The Terran war cruiser within broke near the middle, and bled fire and people out into the void of space. And then the vessel's besieged deflector shield abandoned its charge. Luke felt sick as the ship and the people within died. He had never hated himself more. And he knew when Irisia died that he'd hate himself even more.


	5. Chapter 5

**Ch 5**

 **Chiloon Rift, near the Bubble**

 _ **Olympus Mons**_

A cold rage began to burn through Irisia's body as she allowed the ancient predatory instincts of her species to take hold. Nearly all emotion left her as she focused on her task, to eliminate an enemy bent on eliminating them. It was merely self defense.

The Terran Grand Admiral ordered her fleet to open fire as the space before them erupted into a great light. The golden monolithic vessels within were returning fire as the light faded to reveal them. But these Destroyers were not at all what Irisia had been expecting. They were even more balanced in the Force than the Terrans. Light and dark nearly united as one. Rather than currents of both flowing together and around each other, as was the case with the Terrans. But unlike the Terrans, their vessels were not alive.

The remaining pieces quickly fell into place as she remembered the truth. "It's not that they're monsters," Irisia was telling Andromeda. "They're people, a lot like us, I'd imagine. But they attacked us without provocation. If they'd had some sort of issue with what we were doing, they could have just talked with us. And we could have come to a solution together. Instead they attacked our installation, and then set up those hyperspace disruptors which pulled thousands of our cruisers from hyperspace, murdering millions of our people. So we have to do this."

"That makes sense to me," Andromeda had said.

Irisia could feel her predatory instincts wavering slightly at the memory of her dead daughter. She violently pushed her feelings aside, and drew heavily upon those near emotionless hunter's instincts. Terran vessels began to reposition themselves slightly, into more optimal firing positions. And power was also rerouted accordingly. Irisia was ready to order her fleet forward when she felt a chill trickle down her spine like scalding hot water. "Something is very wrong," she commented, feeling a similar concern from the other Terran commanders. Irisia began issuing orders for her fleet to assume a more defensive posture. She reached out through the Force as to discern what was coming. But with the Force currently in so much turmoil...

 ** _Void Demon_**

 _"Bwua'tu, these 'Destroyers' aren't the enemy. The Terrans have deceived us."_

 _"Are you saying we should-"_

 _"Join... the Destroyers? Yes."_

 _"I trust your judgment, Luke. I'll inform the rest of my fleet. But if the Imps and Hapans aren't on board-"_

 _"I know, Force blast it! If they're not on board with this, it's gonna get real messy. But we can't stand by and watch these Terrans commit genocide."_

 _"Very well. I'm sorry, Luke."_

Despite his emotionless, instinctual state, Zeus was deeply alarmed by what he was hearing. The alliance against the Destroyers had just fallen apart. Zeus clenched his fist in momentary frustration. Styx, this cancer had been contained! And now these fools, may they burn in Hades, had just guaranteed that it would spread.

Yes, the Terrans were trying to commit genocide, but so were the Destroyers. But the Destroyers wouldn't stop there. They would fight to subdue the galaxy. They desired to rule over it as they once had, tens of thousands of years ago.

Zeus could not act against this ancient enemy. With the Alliance having decided to join the Destroyers, there was just no chance of defeating them. Standing against the Destroyers would only get Zeus killed.

And Darth Plagueis' Grand Plan required that Zeus, under the guise of Imperial Head of State, Zedekiah Gatterweld, gain the trust of the Galactic Alliance. Which wouldn't happen if he didn't side with the Alliance. Burning Hades, this would mean betraying his own people! With no other option, he gave the order for his forces to turn on the Terrans, knowing he had just made himself a traitor. It was a real possibility that he would die. Part of him hoped he would for this sin. Even if it was one he had been given no choice but to commit.

 _ **Olympus Mons**_

"Put up peripheral and rear shields," Irisia ordered on the Terran fleet's private frequency.

Her chief tactical officer, an indigo-haired man named Daedalus, turned from his station, a slightly puzzled expression on his face. "Adm..." He shut his mouth as the Terran Annihilation cruiser began shaking under dozens of impacts. "Sulfuric fumes of Styx!" he cursed, getting back to his station.

It was painfully obvious to Irisia what had just happened. That the natives had just collectively turned against her people. She realized that she'd known, in the back of her mind, that this was a possibility. Irisia, and many others, had strongly objected to the decision to deceive this galaxy, and the Terrans themselves. The Terrans were not the Celestials! To Irisia, in her current nearly emotionless state, this fact carried scant emotional weight.

Those Terrans who'd had their memories altered, including Irisia, had all agreed to this plan to avoid dangerous divisions. _We should have just told the truth._ _Things would have still been a mess, but much less of one._

Irisia was pleased to see that the _Olympus Mons_ , along with the rest of her fleet, was returning fire before she'd even been able to give the order. In dire situations such as these, wasted time meant people died.

Irisia kept part of her attention of the tactical display before her. Fighters on both sides were falling. And native capital vessels, now labeled as hostile, began to wink out. She felt nothing at the tens of thousands of lives being snuffed out. Yet, there was a sort of cruel satisfaction at the destruction of these enemy vessels.

Emboldened by the Terrans' sudden betrayal, the Destroyers swept forward. The wave of gold, with its orange wrath, began to spread out, to surround the Terran fleet. Fear began to claw at the back of Irisia's mind. Like all her emotions, it was distant and very much muted. But it was there, nonetheless. This was no ordinary battle; failure would most certainly mean extinction, the destruction of Irisia's entire species. The Destroyers would want nothing less.

A nearby Terran cruiser, its deflector shields taxed beyond their limit, exploded in a great ball of fire. If something drastic was not done, the rest of Irisia's fleet would suffer the same fate. The Terran Grand Admiral thought for a moment. Turning about, in order to flee, was not an option. It would take far too long; the fleet would likely be in ruins before the maneuver was completed. And it would take the Terran beam weapons off of the Destroyers, giving their golden foes a massive reprieve.

To escape from Hades, the Terrans would have to fight their way through the golden demons. Irisia began to issued orders for this change in tactics. She ordered several Terran war cruisers to surround the _Olympus Mons_. It wasn't lost on her that she was telling her own people to die for her. But she was their leader, and commanded their most powerful vessel. Both were assets her people could not afford to lose.

The Terran vessels suddenly shot forward. Silently screaming away from their former allies, and straight into the golden fangs of the devil. The great dragon's golden-orange breath was more devastating the closer Irisia's fleet drew. The Terran vessels' deflector shields became orange with the Destroyer's fire. It would not be long until more crystalline Terran war cruisers, and their occupants were killed, murdered.

But the closer proximity also made the Terran beam weapons, and laser batteries also became more devastating. A trio of red energy beams converged on one of the Destroyers' vessels. The golden vessel's deflector shield seemed to quake, as though from seismic activity, before giving out. What resembled giant red lightsaber blades tore through the ship, turning it into a short lived orb of fire.

Gentle orange light filtered through the _Olympus Mons'_ viewports; Irisia would have found it soothing had she not known it was enemy fire. The tactical readout showed that the Terran Annihilation cruiser's five escorts, the _Venusian_ in particular, were sustaining heavy damage. And it also showed that Irisia's vessel and its escorts were coming upon part of the wall to their golden prison. At such close proximity, with no enemy vessels before them, it would not be possible for the beam weapons to find viable firing solutions. All that power would be needed elsewhere. For shields, propulsion, and perhaps laser batteries. The Terran Grand Admiral again addressed the entirety of her fleet on their private frequency. "Prepare to shut off beam weapons and reroute power as needed." She shut off the comm. "On my mark," she ordered Daedalus.

"Acknowledged," her tactical officer responded.

"Mark!" The soft thrumming of the _Mons'_ trio of beam weapons died away. The orange light bleeding into the bridge became slightly diluted as the deflector shield was reinforced. But this was short lived, as the nearby Destroyers began diverting their own shield power to their weapons. The viewports darkened slightly, to compensate for the increased level of orange light, in effect making the orange light only slightly brighter than it had started out.

The _Olympus Mons_ began to shake, as though afraid. And a faint, almost annoying ring began to fill the bridge, indicating significant stress to the Annihilation cruiser's crystalline structure. The vessel shook violently as something impacted the port side of the deflector shield. At the same instant Irisia felt a nearby shock wave in the Force. She glanced at the tactical screen, which showed that the _Venusian_ had just been destroyed. She felt a dull pang. The _Venusian_ was the first ship Irisia had ever commanded; she'd taken Daedalus along with her when she had transferred to the _Olympus Mons._

"We're almost through," Daedalus noted. "Preparing to reroute power to propulsion and rear shields."

"Including weapons," Irisia added.

"Yes. And I'll keep up the bow and peripheral shields, at low power, as needed."

"Good." Irisia could feel her people being slaughtered all around her. "How many ships have we lost?" she asked.

"At least one hundred cruisers. Over one thousand Lightningbirds."

Irisia felt mildly sick. Hundreds of thousands of people had died, all within less than an hour. A self-loathing began intruding on her faltering battle mindset. She knew it wasn't her fault, but she couldn't help feeling partly to blame. She knew, if she survived this, that she'd remain scarred for the rest of her life...

"We're through," Daedalus said, interrupting Irisia's grim thoughts. "We should be entering hyperspace soon."

"I'm not relaxing just yet." Irisia's thoughts suddenly went to Luke Skywalker. He had to be suffering, too. Luke likely hadn't been given a choice in the matter. She reached out to Luke, and felt a nearly overpowering sense of guilt. And he was angry with himself, but not anyone else. Irisia found that disturbing. Luke should have also been angry with whoever had given the order to turn on the Terrans...

Unless... No, Luke wouldn't... But he'd have certainly sensed that the Destroyers were not the monsters they'd been made out to be. He knew he'd been lied to. He was only doing what he thought was necessary. How much right did Irisia really have to criticize him? But still, how could she ever forgive him for this. An act that might still lead to her people's extinction. She suddenly could taste blood, and realized she'd bitten her lower lip.

The stars stretched into gray lines. The Olympus Mons shuddered as the lines melted into a gray void. "I'm going to my quarters," Irisia announced. She was about to fall apart. But if she just started sobbing in front of her entire crew... that would be horrible for their morale.


	6. Chapter 6

**Ch 6**

 _ **Golden Emperor**_ **, near the Bubble**

Toshikaru let out a particularly colorful curse as the Terran flagship, and its remaining escorts, seemed to stretch and disappear into hyperspace. The Terrans' leadership had no doubt been aboard that vessel.

Most of the remaining Terran capital ships, along with most of the fighters, managed to escape to hyperspace.

There were still those who were left behind, unable to retreat to the safety of the void. They turned their attention toward Toshikaru's forces. Most of the golden vessels managed to destroy the Terran ships before they could execute ramming maneuvers. But a few Terran vessels succeeded in their efforts, annihilating several monolithic vessels before proper evasive action could be taken. The battle concluded in short order, with the remaining Terran vessels being quickly dispatched. Left in this violences wake were the corpses of over a hundred capital ships and hundreds of fighters, from all parties involved. No one had gone away unscathed.

"Well, this certainly was not the plan," Toshikaru commented. The natives had seen through whatever deception the Terrans, those blasted impostors, had devised. But by helping, these natives had actually made it possible for the Terrans to escape

"The Terrans did still suffer heavy losses," his tactical officer, Atlatl responded. "And even if it had been the only option, the safeguard would have been highly controversial."

Toshikaru nodded in agreement. "I know you didn't support its use."

"We both know what it is," Atlatl warned. "I just don't think it's wise to be dabbling in that... sorcery. There are many others who share my opinion. And look what happened to Mortis."

"That was rather unfortunate," Toshikaru agreed, recalling the fate of the eccentric scientist. "But the Green Death is supposed to self annihilate during use," he countered.

"Yes, and everything does what it's supposed to," Atlatl said sarcastically. "You know how close we've come to civil war. The backlash from using the Green Death could very well push our society beyond the brink. But with the Terrans still out there, our people still have a common enemy."

Toshikaru managed a smile. "Our detractors will be reminded of the importance of our Military Guild, thus weakening our opposition."

"So perhaps there won't be a civil war," Atlatl suggested.

"This is true. Now, perhaps we should greet our new 'friends'."

 _ **Turk Brand**_

Luke Skywalker stood on one of the _Turk Brand's_ flight decks, staring out through the magcon field. Slagged ships, and their debris, floated through space like a miniature, unnaturally claustrophobic asteroid field. The Force was heavy with the metaphysical stench of death. But this was unlike anything Luke had felt before. It was almost as though the Force, in its purest form or close to it, had actually tried to rip itself apart. The Force was scarred, and actually seemed to have been traumatized. The workings of the Force were still very much a mystery. Perhaps the Force had some sort of feelings, some sort of consciousness.

 _Maybe we should have just stayed with the Terrans._ It might have been better for the Force if one side had completely triumphed over the other. But now, there would certainly be more violence between the Terrans and these 'Destroyers'. And the Force would continue to suffer. This would be on Luke Skywalker's own hands. This was his doing.

Luke thought about Irisia, how she had to be suffering right now. Thousands of her people had died because of him.

But the Terrans had been dishonest and had demonized these 'Destroyers'. Why couldn't the Terrans have just been honest? They must have had something to hide. Why else had their memories been altered? What else had these Terrans intended to do? Could it potentially hurt the Force more than what had just transpired? Luke shuddered at the thought. "You told me to side with these 'Destroyers'. So why did you tell me to trust Irisia, then? No that wasn't you, that was just me having the hots for the Terran Grand Admiral," he grumbled, disgusted with himself.

"Dad, are you alright?" asked a concerned voice.

"Huh?" Luke said, turning around to see his son. "No Ben, I'm not. I'm a vaping mess," he said, wiping away the moisture around his eyes. "What I just did to her..."

"I know what you mean, dad," Ben said. He thought about how he'd disarmed Vestara, in that battle against the Nephilim, just to get her killed. But Vestara had deserved it. As far as Ben knew, Irisia hadn't deserved what his father had done to her. "So... who were you talking to?"

"Blast it," Luke said softly, almost laughing. "I didn't even realize I was talking out loud. Uh, I was talking to the Force."

"Oh," Ben said slowly. "You know, it never even occurred to me that the Force could actually be in pain. So it probably could use someone to talk to."

"Yeah. I didn't know this could happen with the Force. Now that I think about it... we don't even really know _what_ the Force actually is."

"True. But don't tell me you're just realizing this now."

"No, I've known this for a while," Luke said, sighing. "Irisia... did something to me. But I don't think she knew she was doing... whatever it was. In fact I think most of the Terrans were... trying to employ a massive scale mind trick on the galaxy."

"Sounds like something Palpatine would've done," Ben commented.

"He sort of did."

"Yeah, I guess he did. Didn't work out too good for the Terrans, though."

"Maybe they underestimated how hard it would be," Luke said, not fully convinced. He looked at the gray-silver floor, ashamed of himself. "After I told Bwua'tu the Terrans were the enemy... I just sat there. I just... couldn't do anything..."

"You weren't the only one just sitting there, dad," Ben reminded him.

"I know, and I'm glad you didn't go after the Terrans. But lots of people, some of them fellow Jedi, did. And I didn't know who was right. I still don't."

"Was anyone right?" Ben asked.

Luke sighed. "I really don't know. Maybe not. Maybe there just isn't a right thing to do." His comlink beeped. Luke groaned; the so called Destroyers obviously wanted to talk. He didn't think he could be objective about this situation right now. "Our new friends want to talk, I'm guessing."

"That's correct," Admiral Bwua'tu's voice responded.

"I'm on my way," Luke grumbled, before turning off the comlink.

"You know, if you need someone else to take over for awhile... it's okay," Ben said.

"Thanks, Ben. I'll think about it," Luke said, as he reluctantly headed toward the ops room. He joined Admiral Bwua'tu a couple minutes later. On a two dimensional monitor, set into one of the walls, was the image of a man who appeared to be human.

"Master Skywalker," he greeted, in an obscure accent that made it clear that Basic was not his native language.

"Yes, that's me."

"I am Toshikaru. Leader of the Military Guild of the Nibu'i people, also known as the Celestials. Admiral Bwua'tu tells me you were the one who informed him of the Terrans' deception, and advised him to join our Forces. You have thwarted an act of genocide against us. We are in your debt for this."

"You're welcome," Luke said. Toshikaru's gratitude made Luke hate himself all the more. "I believe the Terrans were trying to employ a kind of massive mind trick. Aside from their real leadership, I don't think they even knew they were doing this."

"My people have concluded the same," Toshikaru agreed. He turned toward Bwua'tu. "Your Admiral has told me a great of what Irisia said. It is true that we destroyed one of their installations. Perhaps it was a recon station but, more importantly, it was also a weapon of massed destruction. They've used such weaponry in the past, to cause stars to go nova billions of years before they should have. Several of our colonies were caught in these explosions, resulting in over a billion deaths. This so called recon station produced the same type of energy spike as these other installations. Our races have fought numerous wars, and they have started the vast majority of them."

Especially in light of what the Terrans had done, Luke was very hesitant to trust these Celestials. He knew they had to have secrets of their own. But he would give Toshikaru the benefit of the doubt. "And the Nephilim? Are the Terrans to blame for that?"

"Yes," Toshikaru replied. "We were barely able to shut the Nephilim down and send them into those dark matter clouds. The Terrans likely wanted to make the galaxy, its military forces at least, more desperate in order to facilitate that mind trick."

"Right," Luke said, running a hand through his hair.

"I know this must be a lot for the both of you to take in," Toshikaru said.

"You would be right."

"Well, we can speak more later."

 _ **Olympus Mons**_

"How bad is the damage?" Daedalus asked the systems officer, a dark-green haired woman named Siffia.

"Uh, moderate. We're... stable. Why don't you call off for now, Daedalus."

"Thank you, sister," Daedalus responded, patting the young woman on the shoulder. As he left the bridge, he realized that he was utterly exhausted. He reached out to Irisia in the Force; she was a wreck. _So am I._ Daedalus couldn't sense her drawing on the Force, so he assumed she wasn't in contact with her weapon. With all the dark emotions he could sense from her, that was a very wise move.

Daedalus gently rapped his knuckles on the door to Irisia's quarters. "Hey, Ris, it's Dal..." He trailed off, sensing in the Force that she needed him. He slipped into her quarters to find her curled up on her bed, sobbing so softly he could barely hear her. It broke Daedalus' heart to see her suffering like this.

Daedalus had been in love with Irisia for almost thirty years now. While she also loved him, she saw him more as a brother. Irisia still let him get quite close to her, though not to the extent he wished for. He would make do with what she allowed.

Daedalus carefully stepped around the armor lying on the floor, and made his way over to Irisia's bed. He sat down beside her and placed a gentle hand on her shoulder blade. Irisia wiped at her face, and looked up at him. Deadalus noticed that she'd bitten her lower lip, and had almost gone right through it. He ran a finger along her lip. She gently pushed his hand away, to discourage him from taking his affection too far. Daedalus needed a reminder like that every once in awhile. "I got a bit hungry," Irisia joked, trying to lighten the mood.

Daedalus let out a soft chuckle. "You're adorable." He laid down beside her, put an arm around her, and gently pulled her closer. She tucked her head in, and rested it against his chin, helping to remove the temptation to kiss her on the mouth. He was content to briefly place his lips on her forehead.


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: New content has been added to the previous chapter. It starts after Luke is called to the ops room.**

 **44 ABY: Near Kesh**

A golden-brown blur appeared several thousand kilometers from the world the Lost Tribe of the Sith called home. The blur shortened and defined itself into a rather unassuming looking craft. The main body was rectangular box, with the corners and edges rounded away. Attached to the front was a triangular cockpit, similarly rounded. Toward the stern were three stubby wings, each with an engine incorporated into it. One wing rested atop the craft, while the other two, slanting downward, were on the left and right sides.

Sitting quietly in the pilot's seat was a Chagrian man. Typical for his species a lethorn, a large sort of finger of flesh with a horn growing out of it, hung from either side of his face. And as with the males, he also had a pair of horns growing from his head. The left was quite long while the right was shorter, having been broken years ago.

But atypical of a Chagrian, his once blue skin had been dyed red and was now home to numerous swirling black tattoos. Such a thing had become increasingly common among members of the One Sith.

The aftertaste of a disturbingly recent, wave of death wafted up from Kesh. Some sort of disaster had occurred while he had been in transit. A number of wary presences scanned his Force aura, the memory of what had transpired still fresh in their minds, to see if he was friend or foe.

In response he gathered the dark side about him, to make it known that he was not a Jedi. This did seem to bring them a small sense of relief. Though the Chagrian Sith Lord was mildly surprised at how slight it was.

His scanners detected several fighters rising up to meet his craft, preparing to blow him out of the sky. He suddenly recalled hearing reports of a being named Abeloth who was said to be incredibly powerful in the dark side. Was this being responsible for all the death he'd felt?

He switched on the ship's comm as it beeped. "Who are you, and what do you want?" asked a suspicious, somewhat angry voice.

"My name is Darth Wyyrlok. I am an envoy of the One Sith. I wish to speak with your leadership to see if we can form an alliance with your Lost Tribe. And... I sense that something has happened here. I would like to express my condolences."

"We appreciate that. My name is Dohazri Shazaar. I will transmit a set of landing coordinates. We will discuss the possibility of an alliance once you have landed and exited the shuttle. You must not deviate from this course you are given."

"Thank you, Dohazri Shazaar."

* * *

 **Darth Wyyrlok** surveyed the ruined city of Tahv as he piloted his shuttle to the landing coordinates. It looked as though some sort of bomb had been detonated. Ruined blocks of stone and twisted bits of metal, sprinkled with dust and bits of colorful glass, were all that remained of what must have once been a magnificent sight. This must have been the work of Abeloth.

A trio of landing skids extended from the golden-brown shuttle's underside, shortly before it touched down. Wyyrlok pressed a button on the wall by the boarding ramp, prompting it to unfold. And to reveal that several lavender-skinned men and women had gathered around his ship. He hadn't felt them gather, meaning they knew how to hide themselves in the Force. "I am Darth Wyyrlok," he said politely as he walked down the shuttle's boarding ramp.

One of the men cautiously stepped forward. "Dohazri Shazaar," he said, extending his hand.

Darth Wyyrlok took the proffered hand. He felt Dohazri following his gaze as he looked around. "Was this the work of a creature called Abeloth?"

"Yes, the abomination caused what you see here, before fleeing to Coruscant. Our leader, Darish Vol, followed her there to kill her. But she killed him, instead. We're not quite sure why she did all this." Dohazri looked at the ground in disgust. "The Lost Tribe has been in disarray ever since. Several families currently vie for leadership. We fight against each when we should be standing as one against the Jedi."

Darth Wyyrlok nodded. "What your Lost Tribe needs is a Master to restore unity. The One Sith have a Master. Darth Krayt. He showed me the wonder of the dark side when I needed it most. And he gave me a purpose. He offers to do the same for your people."

Dohazri Shazaar sighed. "I sense no deceit from you," he said slowly. "But that does not mean I am ready to trust you."

Wyyrlok nodded in approval. "This is good. Darth Krayt does not seek an alliance with fools who are too quick to trust."

"We were too quick in trusting Abeloth, and look what it got us," Dohazri said, his tone bitter. "But if an alliance with us is so important to this Darth Krayt, why does he not come himself?"

"Lord Krayt does not risk his life unnecessarily. The One Sith did not know what to expect from the world of Kesh, for one must never be too quick to trust. I am expendable; there is another ready to take my position should anything befall me. Therefore, my loss death would not be detrimental."

Dohazri nodded. "So you admit that... Lord Krayt is _in_ expendable."

"Yes," Wyyrlok easily admitted. "And Lord Krayt wishes to be inexpendable to your Lost Tribe, also. The Master has recently learned in some of his visions that the threat the Jedi pose has become even more grave. There is a child among the Jedi who is destined to become their queen, should she be allowed to live."

"Some of this has reached here..." Dohazri corroborated.

"If this comes to pass, I fear the galaxy will be plunged into endless war. The Jedi believe they are saving the galaxy when in fact their actions could destroy it."

 **56 ABY**

 ** _Poison Moon_**

The _Poison Moon_ tunneled through the swirling abyss of hyperspace, transporting two hundred students who'd just finished a long stint of training at the Sith Academy on Korriban. They were returning to Kesh to pass on what knowledge they had gained, and two hundred more students would take their place.

Darth Wyyrlok fondly recalled the different reactions of students meeting Darth Plagueis for the first time. Mostly a mix of fear or horror, and fascination. Like Wyyrlok, after returning to Korriban twelve years ago, the students had not known what to expect in regards to the Dark Man. Had not expected to find a man existing between life and death.

Unlike so many Sith Lords before him, Darth Plagueis was not a victim to the illusion that a mere pair of Sith could defeat the Jedi. Nor would he make the mistake of underestimating them. It would require an army to defeat the Jedi. And therefore, the Dark Man had seen fit to create one. These students would form the bulk of that army. An army numbering in the thousands. Darth Plagueis would forge a new Sith Empire!

But the Sith could not yet take on the Jedi directly. For Darth Plagueis had warned that the newly discovered or, more likely, rediscovered Anti-Force was still very much at work. The Sith would need the Jedi's help to repel this threat. The galaxy would need overwhelming force. A hammer, so to speak.

Only after this Anti-Force had been dealt with would the Sith eliminate their temporary allies and eternal enemies, the Jedi. But this would be a far more delicate procedure. Requiring the sort of precision one would need when removing a tumor. If the Sith were not careful, the galaxy might side with the Jedi. The Jedi, not the Sith, needed to be seen as the problem. The Sith needed to be the saviors.

The cerulean swirls of hyperspace subsided into a mottled gray. The gray abyss fractured into billions of white lines, which shrunk down to stars, and revealed the black velvet of space. The _Poison Moon_ silently approached the world of Kesh. The _Interceptor_ -class frigate was soon falling through the atmosphere of the Sith stronghold, toward the city of Tahv.

Over the many times Darth Wyyrlok had been to Kesh, sometimes with Darth Krayt, Tahv had gradually been built up. Not to any extent approaching its former glory. The Lost Tribe did not have the luxury of time, as they had in the past. Quality of craftsmanship had to give way to expediency.

Tahv's population was also being built up. So many children had been born on Kesh in these past twelve years. Raised in the ways of the dark side of the Force. When the time came they go to train at Korriban, where they would meet Darth Plagueis and Darth Krayt. And then they and so many others would, hopefully, help save galaxy from itself. Stewards of peace and order, and bulwarks against chaos and anarchy.


	8. Chapter 8

**Kesh**

Darth Wyyrlok stepped off the golden-brown shuttle's boarding ramp onto a mildly scorched flight deck. "Welcome aboard the _Darth Sidious_ ," said a proud Dohazri Shazaar. The Mark II _Imperator_ -class Star Destroyer would be serving as the flagship of the Sith fleet. Floating just outside the orbit Kesh, along with the _Sidious_ , were almost two hundred fully operational vessels. Nearly four hundred more were under repair, or partial reconstruction. Darth Krayt had commissioned the fleet's creation shortly after the alliance between his One Sith and the Lost Tribe of the Sith had been solidified. For the servants of the dark side would need a mighty fleet with which to take back a galaxy that was rightfully theirs.

Countless wars and battles had left so many ships, and parts thereof, in their wake. Salvaging and repairing these ships was rarely cost effective. Therefore the debris would be forgotten, and to float aimlessly through space. A vast source of material for those with the resourcefulness to make use of it. And the ability to find it. One simply had to commune with the dark side, and allow it to point the way to mass deaths. The remnants of ships were usually nearby.

"I am proud of our progress, Captain Shazaar," Wyyrlok said, as they shook hands.

"We have so many brilliant minds among us," the Keshiri captain of the _Darth Sidious_ responded.

"My lords," a young Keshiri officer interrupted. "Lord Plagueis must speak with you both at once." Dohazri and Wyyrlok headed for the ops room, while the girl went to attend to other duties. Both men entered a darkened room occupied by human General Rogan Vol, the grandson of Darish Vol, along with holographic facsimiles of Darth Plagueis, and Zeus.

* * *

 **Darth Wyyrlok** cursed under his breath. "Therefore our fleet must be used to aid the Terrans in battle against the Celestials." It was a frustrating setback. This war with the Celestials was likely to wipe most of the Sith fleet out, and it would have to be built up again. But winning this war was necessary if the Sith wanted to rule this galaxy.

"Phaeton, and the rest of my people, will be grateful for this. Though he will be a bit... perturbed that I have hidden my alliance with the Sith," Zeus said. "As you know, the typical Terran's views on the Force are not at all compatible with ours. But as long as this alliance helps them, there shouldn't be a problem. And there is another source of aid the Terrans will look to."

 _ **Olympus Mons**_

 _Irisia glanced at the chair, and sighed. Her memories were part of who she was. And she was about to lose so many of them. Decades worth. She was about to lose part of who she was, and that scared her. "It will be alright," Andromeda told her, seeing her adoptive mother's fear, and giving her an affectionate embrace. "Thousands of others have already had their memories... altered. And aside from some nasty headaches, they're fine."_

 _"I know. I just wish we didn't have to do this." Irisia said, sighing. "I really should be getting into that chair now."_

 _"Alright," Andromeda mumbled, letting her go. "I'll still be here when you wake up," the girl added. Irisia nodded, and reluctantly took her place in the chair. A technician adjusted an armature attached to the headrest, and lowered a half-dome object over her head. Then everything went dark as Irisia lost consciousness._

Irisia regained consciousness with a horrible throbbing in her temples.. More images and impressions burned through her mind than she could even try to count. This was not at all what she'd been told to expect. She was on her side, in her flightsuit rather than the more casual clothing she'd been wearing.

Someone lay behind Irisia, with an arm around her waist. Daedalus. She was surprised at how comforting it was. Had her feelings for him changed? Could she even trust her feelings right now, with everything that had been happening?

Irisia reluctantly opened her eyes. A soft light emanated from the peach-orange walls of her quarters. The light did hurt her eyes a little, but it was tolerable. She rolled onto her back, and stared at Daedalus a long moment. His skin was even lighter than hers, and had an almost imperceptible blue hue.

An inarticulate grumble escaped Daedalus, before he opened his eyes. They were a vibrant orange, with thin, not quite microscopic indigo stripes. He groaned. "Feel like I was hit in the head by a staff weapon, and somehow managed to survive."

"Getting back memories is a real Aether-corrupted Leviathan, is it not?" Irisia said, sympathetically.

"If you say so," Daedalus said, mildly confused.

"I don't know where that expression came from," Irisia said, laughing.

Daedalus shrugged, and kissed Irisia's temple. "I remembered something about our plan to gain the galaxy's trust," he said. "It involved more than just altering our memories. We were using the Force to sway those we speaking to. Do you remember any of this?"

Irisia frowned. "I wasn't... Yes, I was. It was subconscious, and very subtle. So any Force users around would hopefully be unable to detect it."

"Right," Daedalus said. "But it was... bigger than that. Whoever was in charge of this... they were using us sort of like amplifiers. This deception was directed at hundreds of thousands. So that they'd fight along side us."

"It failed miserably, and now the whole galaxy knows we can't be trusted. And they want us dead," Irisia muttered.

"True." Daedalus sighed. "As much as I'd love to lie here with you all day, we really should get up and see how... things are going," he said, slowly sitting up. He wrinkled his nose when he smelled his flightsuit. Irisia gave an unconcerned shrug, and seconds later the two were leaving her quarters.

Irisia could feel that the _Olympus Mons_ had healed itself a fair amount, as she and Daedalus walked down some of the Terran Annihilation cruiser's corridors. The pair came to a partially darkened corridor. Several people were walking up and down the corridor with circuitry etchers. The device contained two tiny, adjustable laser emitters. The two beams could intersect various distances away. When they met within the crystalline of a Terran vessel, the intersection point could be used to carve out tiny pathways for energy or information to flow through. In this case new pathways in the crystals were being created to help reroute power.

A dark-green haired girl was making her way toward Irisia and Daedalus, with one of the circuitry etchers. The tiny young woman was so focused on her task that she didn't even notice the pair. Siffia was like that; Irisia had never met someone with such focus. She thought it was adorable.

Siffia placed the etcher in her pocket a couple seconds later. She turned toward the two, revealing gold colored irises with small copper splotches. "Hi. I didn't see you two there," she said, rather awkwardly.

"Good morning, Sif," Irisia said, hugging the young woman. Siffia's size, or lack thereof, was due to a rare mutation effecting a small percentage of females. Irisia thought it made the kid even cuter.

"Kronos wants to see both of you on the bridge," Siffia said, after Irisia finally let go of her.

"Kronos?" Daedalus asked.

"Two hundred fifty nine years old. Long, white hair. Piercing blue eyes," the girl reminded them.

Irisia felt her heart leap in her chest. With those alterations to her memory she'd forgotten this man, who was seen as a father by many, had even existed.

Daedalus inhaled sharply, clearly also remembering Kronos. "Thanks, we'll see you later, then." He gave Siffia a quick pat on the head before he and Irisia started toward the bridge. "I know Siffia's an adult, but I really want to adopt that kid."

Irisia smiled. "You're not the only one." While Siffia could never replace Andromeda, Irisia would love to have a daughter again. Siffia had lost her parents when their stasis pods had malfunctioned. Irisia and Daedalus had both lost their parents the same way, so they knew how much it hurt.

A couple minutes later, Irisia and Daedalus stepped onto the bridge to find Kronos sitting in the Admiral's chair. He turned toward the pair, with a compassionate smile on his weathered face. "My children," said his strong, yet gentle voice. He did not mean children in a literal sense; it was simply a term of endearment for those younger than himself.

"Father Kronos," the two younger Terrans said, in unison.

"Do you... know what happened back there?" Irisia asked, unable to keep the subtle edge from her voice.

"Something interfered with the Force," Kronos said, softly. "We know the Aether can do this."

Irisia frowned. "The Celestials couldn't have known about our Force persuasion."

"So they intend to use the Aether for... something else," Daedalus concluded, mildly alarmed.

Kronos nodded. And then allowed a demented smile to take possession of his lips. "They're not the only ones with surprises. Since our Force persuasion now has no hope of working, I see now harm in summoning _them_."

A cold shiver exploded along Irisia's spine as she recalled the dark abominations with the double visored faces. "One of those demons murdered my daughter," she said, a hint of anger creeping into her voice.

"I know, Irisia. I loved Andromeda, also. But we can use them to prevent more of our people from being murdered. And so it must be done."

Irisia nodded her understanding. Calling upon the Nephilim had not been an option at the Chiloon Rift. Even with the Force persuasion it would have been impossible for the Terrans to win the galaxy's trust had they brought the Dark Ones along.

 _ **Turk Brand**_

"Things got even more interesting during the second meeting," Luke was telling Jedi Master Corran Horn. "Shotel Za claims that the Celestials created nearly all the sentient bipeds of this galaxy. Humans were made to be most like them."

"Well, they are like us, just on a slightly larger scale," Corran agreed.

"He also says his race and the Terrans both came from the same galaxy as the Yuuzhan Vong."

"I guess that makes sense, too," Corran said slowly.

"They also want to speak with the Jedi Grand Master," Luke said, sourly.

"You don't sound thrilled," Corran pointed out.

Luke sighed. "I got a bit... too close with Irisia," he admitted. "I... feel like I'm in love with her. But it happened in only about a day."

Corran frowned. "You know me. I'm always suspicious of stuff like that."

Luke nodded. "I don't know if it's real, or if it was... just her messing with me. I want to believe there was something there."

"I'm sure it's a combination of the two," Corran suggested. "It sounds like there might've been something there to begin with."

"Probably," Luke agreed. "I thought the Force was telling me to trust the Terrans. But it was just... lust." He spoke that last word with disgust. "I can't trust my own judgment right now..."

"So you want me to take over," Corran reasoned.

"Unless you've also fallen in love with a beautiful Terran woman, too" Luke joked.

"No. Mirrax is the only girl for me," Corran assured him. "I'd be glad to take over. Grand Master Corran Horn does have a really nice ring to it," he said, with a smirk.


	9. Chapter 9

**_Olympus Mons_** **: en route to Kuat**

Siffia didn't seem to notice Irisia standing beside her. Code, only a small fraction of which Irisia could understand, appeared on the screen as Siffia's fingers practically flew across the keypad. The purple haired woman could hear the girl mumbling softly to herself, obviously about her code. "I'm about to transmit the first portion of the code," Siffia announced. "It will basically cause the Nephilim to view us as friendlies. We have to do that before we transmit instructions to them, or they won't obey us."

"Stations!" Daedalus called, perhaps a bit more loudly than necessary. Irisia scrambled into the admiral's chair. The swirling gray of hyperspace disintegrated, seconds later, into innumerable silver pinpoints as Kuat's gravity well dragged the Terran fleet out of hyperspace. "Eight _Imperator_ -class Star Destroyers and support vessels."

"Fire when in range," Irisia ordered. A seemingly long moment later, crimson bolts of energy began flashing out toward the small Galactic Alliance fleet.

 ** _Kuati Dagger_** **: orbiting Kuat**

Admiral Darklighter's fleet of eight _Imperator_ -class Star Destroyers and their support vessels had remained stationed at Kuat during the battle at the Chiloon Rift over concerns that Lecersen or the Sith might be tempted to make a move against the world. And of course, nothing had happened.

But Gavin wasn't concerned about all that at the moment. What mattered to him right now was the beautiful Bothan woman sitting across from him. He could scarcely believe she was here with him.

"I'm sorry if I seem a bit... distant," Asyr Sei'lar was saying. "I've just gotten so used to being alone. I couldn't get close to anyone. That would've meant telling them who I really was. And good old _Borks_ Fe'lya made blasted sure to vape my reputation."

"That's partly my fault, isn't it," Gavin said, recalling how much Borsk disliked him, hated him.

"Partly?" she responded, a sweet little smile playing across her lips.

"Well, uh, I know who you are," Gavin said a bit awkwardly. "So there's no harm in getting close to me."

"Are you..." she trailed off as Gavin's comlink beeped. He frowned and activated the comlink.

"Get to the bridge," said a tense voice.

"On my way," Gavin said, getting up from his chair. He turned to Asyr. "Sorry," he apologized, before heading out the door of his quarters. Mere seconds into his journey to the bridge, the _Dagger_ shook violently. "Blast," Gavin muttered, going into a full out run. He nearly stumbled as a second impact rocked the Star Destroyer. He arrived at the bridge in short order, breathing heavily.

"Admiral," said the tactical officer, a brown skinned Zabrak woman with small horns on her bald head. "We have five Terran contacts. The _Mons_ and four war cruisers. They've suffered some extensive damage. Our fleet has just started returning fire. Fighters are on standby. Enemy fighters haven't launched."

Admiral Darkligter took the vacant captain's seat. "We don't know how many fighters they have, after the Rift. They either don't have many, or they want us to think they just want us to think they don't." He sighed. "Launch fighters. And remind our pilots that these Terran pilots have been learning how to use the Force their whole lives, unlike our Made Jedi." The recently invented drug Midichlore had made many Galactic Alliance pilots into Force users, but they weren't natural born Force users.

"Aye."

A moment or so later, swarms of fighters were soundlessly blasting out into the glittering blackness of space. Gavin frowned when the Terrans still weren't launching any of the fighters they may have had. "Advise our pilots that the Terrans _might_ have a full complement of fighters."

"Aye."

Admiral Darklighter proceeded to give more orders. His eight Star Destroyers began to assume a loose octagonal formation around the Terran fleet, so that they could each bring a weapons trench to bear. This kept his fleet safely away from the Terran vessels' beam weapons. There was still the equivalent of fifteen weapons trenches to contend with. More, in a sense, if one took into account the fact that the _Olympus Mons_ was roughly three fourths the size of an _Executor_ -class Star Destroyer. But many of their batteries appeared to be nonfunctional.

Small explosions began to blossom from the crystalline ships, under the joint assault of turbolasers and the fighter squadrons conducting strafing runs. The purplish trails of proton torpedoes quickly joined the green laser fire and blue ion beams of the Alliance fleet.

Gavin sighed as deflector shields, on both sides, rippled angrily. From everything he'd heard, the Terrans were decent people. They were desperately fighting for the survival of their own species. But the Galactic Alliance also had the right to defend itself. And so, good people would proceed to kill each other.

"Sir," said the tactical officer, "their rate of fire's slowing down."

"Move in, and bring in the support craft," Admiral Darklighter ordered.

"Aye."

Gavin repeatedly glanced at his tactical readout over the next few minutes, and felt a guilty sense of relief as his fleet tightened its net around the enemy. It wouldn't be much longer before this threat was taken care of. He tried to forget that these were people...

A large explosion suddenly erupted from one of the Terran war cruisers, and its weapons stopped firing. Darklighter's fleet responded by diverting its fire from that vessel to the others. But then the supposedly crippled vessel suddenly lurched forward at an alarming speed. The Alliance fleet resumed its fire on the vessel. The Terran war cruiser didn't return fire. Gavin frowned when it seemed to heading toward a pair of Star Destroyers. He relaxed a bit when explosions began erupting from the ship's hull. One of the destroyers rotated, as the war cruiser passed between it and its sibling, to keep one of its weapons trenches on the hostile vessel. The war cruiser opened fire again. And then fired its beam weapon. Into empty space.

"Comms!" Gavin almost shouted. The Terran war cruiser exploded, hurling fire and debris against the two Star Destroyers' deflector shields. One shield buckled, and the ship within seemed to almost expand before it was consumed by the inferno. The other Star Destroyer followed within a second. "Never vaping mind."

"Sir," said the tactical officer, "the _Mons_ is in rough shape. If we send our fighters-"

"Blow them to hell."

"Aye." Almost three hundred fighters blasted toward the Terran Annihilation cruiser, dodging and weaving around its fire. "They just launched their own fighters," the Zabrak woman warned. The two swarms met in a clash of red and green, with tiny fires coming to life indicating destroyed fighters. "I'm guessing just under two hundred fighters. I don't think I like those odds, sir. Not when we're dealing with Terrans."

Admiral Darklighter kept part of his attention on the fighters, and it seemed as though the red energy bolts were causing more explosions than the green ones. Meaning the Terran pilots, in their Lightningbirds, were scoring more kills than his. "Have half our support craft reinforce our fighters."

"Aye."

The _Kuati Dagger_ heaved violently. The lights dimmed briefly, and something in the crew pit threw up a shower of sparks. "Their firing rate just went back up to normal," the tactical officer explained. "All their vessels."

"They baited us," Gavin said, disgusted. It was starting to seem like this whole blasted battle had been a setup. He hadn't seen any of this coming. Perhaps it had been too early to get back into the admiral's chair.

"Sir," said the comms officer, a four armed Cudro-Ji man, "the Capricorn's down to thirteen percent shield strength. They can't hold out much longer."

"Let them go, then."

"Yes, sir," he said, and quickly relayed the message.

Four Terran ships, an Annihilation cruiser among them, against five Star Destroyers were atrocious odds even if those enemy ships were damaged. Trying to hold on to Kuat would be suicide. "Comms, order a retreat," Gavin said wearily.

"Yes sir."

Gavin felt an invisible hand pushing him back, into his seat, as the _Kuati Dagger_ accelerated to full sublight speed. The vessel shook as the Terran fleet continued to pound its shields. "Cease fire. Put that energy into shields. Have the rest of our fleet follow suit, if they can." A pair of 'yes sirs' issued from the engineering and comms officers.

Having lost their interest in the Alliance fighters and support craft, the hundred or so remaining Lightningbirds broke off and headed toward one of the Star Destroyers, whose deflector shield was already vibrating courtesy of a pair of Terran war cruisers. The Alliance fighters, their numbers cut roughly in half, followed behind, firing away with green laser beams, proton torpedoes, and concussion missiles. The capital vessel was forced to open fire, with the same weaponry and ion cannons, in an attempt to keep the Terran fighters at bay.

The small Terran vessels scattered, as though they'd known what was coming. Several Alliance fighters exploded under friendly fire from the Star Destroyer. The Alliance fighters quickly reorganized themselves above and below the destroyer's lane of fire. The Alliance vessels were forced to decrease their rate of fire, allowing the Lightningbirds to advance further. They rained crimson needles of energy down on their prey's shields. Several red beams made contact near the same spot, causing one of the shield generators to spark. The Terran fighters gathered, like scavangers, around the area, blasting away viciously.

The Star Destroyer destroyed a dozen or so Lightningbirds, before its besieged shield generator exploded. That weakened the destroyer's shields enough for a barrage of red fire to sneak through. In under a minute the hapless vessel had become an inferno.

Gavin feared the _Kuati Dagger_ might be next as it shook and groaned, and small fires started coming to life on the bridge. Officers started calling out damage reports, in annoyingly calm voices. The main left engine had just been shut off to avoid a catastrophic overload. But then the stars seemed to smear, and melt into a grayish abyss. Gavin let out a breath he didn't realize he'd been holding.

"I have the bridge," the tactical officer said. "Why don't you go get some rest."

"Thanks, I'll try to make it back to my room before I pass out." With a wave of exhaustion coming upon him, Gavin made his way back into his dimly lit quarters. Not bothering to remove his boots, he plopped himself down on the couch. He heard the 'fresher door slide open, and looked up to see a barefoot Asyr walking over to him. "I see you've made yourself at home."

The Bothan woman glanced down at her fuzzy feet. "My puppies gotta breathe."

Gavin couldn't help but smile at her cute response. "I glad you're still here."

"I knew you'd want me here when you came back," Asyr said, walking over to the couch. She folded her legs beneath her as she sat beside him. "How are you doing?"

He groaned. "That battle was a vaping disaster."

"I kind of thought," Asyr said, placing a soft hand on his knee. She listened intently as Gavin recounted the battle, and subsequent retreat.

"I feel like it was my fault."

"Yeah, it was your fault that you couldn't foresee their unconventional tactics. It's your fault that they can use the Force, and you can't. It's also your fault that their ships are more advanced than ours."

Gavin sighed. "I see what you mean. And their ships are _a lot_ more advanced." There was a brief silence as he waited for her to say something. "You were going to ask me something before I left."

"Yeah," Asyr said, glancing at the floor. She looked back up and met his eyes. "Are you ready to be in a relationship after..."

"What Krayt did?" Gavin finished. "You were almost my wife, Asyr. That doesn't just go away." She moved her lips as though to say something. "I need you," he went on, gently cutting her off.

"Okay," she conceded, letting go of what she'd been planning on saying. She snuggled up against him, and allowed him to put an arm around her shoulders.


	10. Chapter 10

**A/N: The name wasn't Toshikaru, it was Tosi-karu. And it was name of a female deity. So I've changed Toshikaru to Shotel Za.**

 **Nibiru**

Jaina Solo Fel could feel Nibiru glowing with the Force as newly made Jedi Grand Master Corran Horn led her and Jag down to the Celestial homeworld's surface. A great network of both light and dark surrounded the world a bit like a spherical circuit board. The two sides of the Force were so deeply intertwined, that they were almost as one. Not even on Zonama Sekot had Jaina felt this.

Tiny pinpricks of light grew into glimmering buildings. They were metallic in color, with turquoise windows. Some were pyramidal, others were almost cube-shaped, and still others were geodesic spheres. Many other, rather simple shapes, were also present. Jaina imagined that each building had been made with a specific purpose in mind. It all seemed so orderly and well thought out. _Unlike our galaxy._

Corran led the trio to their appointed landing coordinates, where a ground-based hangar awaited them. It was a squat rectangular building, with a gently sloping roof. Its mostly gold surface gleamed in the slightly orange sunlight. On one of the shorter sides was a wide, open doorway, roughly half the height of the building. They carefully floated their fighters through the open doorway, and landed in a neat triangle, with Corran's green and black X-wing at the fore. He and Jaina deftly leapt down from their X-wings, while Jag, a bit more slowly, exited his Clawcraft.

A pair of soldiers, who must have been roughly nine feet tall, approached the group. They wore imposing, but rather primitive looking, suits of maroon colored armor. Much of the material resembled leather. The shape of the helmets reminded Jaina of the images she'd seen of Darth Vader. Small panels hung down the sides, obviously to protect the neck. The panels were dotted with black studs that glittered like diamonds. Similar, though larger, panels seemed to be wrapped around the upper arms. Five, even larger, panels encircled the waist. They went down to about the soldiers' knees. One panel was situated between the legs. A pair of panels hung to either side of the first, over the outer front of the legs. While a pair of plates covered the rear. The four shin guards were similar, but with short black spikes. The rest of the armor, mostly on the legs and arms, consisted of overlapping black panels outlined in maroon. One soldier wore a pair of long swords on his back, while the other had one on each hip.

The soldiers placed their hands together and bowed their heads. Their human guests returned the gesture. "We shall show you to Shotel Za," said the soldier with the swords on his back. The armored men led Jaina and the others into a side room, and slid apart a pair of tall wooden doors, revealing a sort of office. Jaina was a bit surprised by the interior. There were different types of wood, some dark, and some light. Near the back was a large, table that seemed quite low for a nine foot tall person. There were cushions set into the floor, near the table. Three of the cushions were noticeably higher, and had to be intended for smaller beings. At the rear wall was another, single wooden door.

It opened about a minute later, revealing a tall, unarmored man. He wore baggy saffron colored pants, and a sort of shirt that was cinched at the waist by a maroon sash. Jaina could sense the Force in him, but it seemed a bit off. The Force wasn't actually coming from him; it was flowing into him from something. Perhaps something under his clothes? He was bald, with a mustache that hung down a bit on either end. His appeared to be in his forties, yet he seemed to be truly ancient.

"I am Shotel Za," the man said, bowing. The others introduced themselves the same way.

"Where is Jedi Grand Master Luke Skywalker?" Shotel Za asked.

"He had some personal matters to attend to," Corran explained. "I will be serving as Grand Master in his absence."

"Tell him I hope he gets those matters sorted out."

"I will."

"Shall we sit?" Shotel Za asked.

* * *

 **Jedi Grand** Master Corran Horn had chosen the left cushion, while Jaina and Jag had decided to share the middle cushion. Shotel Za sat across from the trio. Shotel Za was certainly polite enough, but he lacked that endearing warmness Irisia had had. The woman had almost immediately seemed like a friend. That just wasn't normal. Jaina took solace in the fact that Shotel Za wasn't so disturbingly likable.

"Much of what Andromeda said was based on the truth," the Nibu man was saying.

"The best lies usually are," Corran agreed.

"It was the _Terrans_ who turned the Nephilim against _us_. And we were the ones who managed to deactivate them. But it was the Columi who created them. The Columi had joined the Rakata in a war against our people. We managed to take control of the Nephilim, and used them to help end the war..." Shotel Za trailed off as one the soldiers, the one with a swords at his waist, pushed one of the twin doors open.

"Admiral Kre'fey has just relayed us a message from Admiral Darklighter. The Terrans have taken Kuat," the soldier said. Jaina had the sudden feeling that things were going to get much uglier.

 _ **Nibiru Sunset**_ **: en route to Kuat**

Macua Huitl was alarmed by the news of Kuat's capture. If the Terrans had already made it to Kuat, what else were they capable of? The Nibu man knew the Terrans would wipe out his entire species if given the chance. And so the Nibu'i had no choice but to fight them with the same intent. Macua Huitl could think of no other recourse short of genocide to end this Force forsaken conflict. One that had continually reignited itself over hundreds of thousands of years. Destroying an entire species was a horrific thing to even consider, but horrific things were sometimes necessary.

But while Macua Huitl shared Shotel Za's fear of these people, he did not share the man's hatred of them. The Terrans were people just as much as the Nibu'i. The Terrans were simply on the other side of the war. And they most certainly feared the Nibu'i as much as the Nibu'i feared the Terrans. Macua wished for peace to be possible...

Macua Huitl frowned as the Force harness beneath his shirt began to vibrate like a small, frightened animal. A warning that something was coming. A stalk seemed to grow out of the silver floor as Macua ran over to his station. The top had just formed itself into a seat when he sat down. A back formed behind him. Armrests appeared, and flattened themselves on top; a small touchscreen appeared on each of them.

Soldiers, in mostly turquoise colored armor, quickly headed toward their fighters. The _Nibiru Sunset_ shook gently, as it left hyperspace. "We just dropped out of hyperspace," someone uselessly announced.

"Six hours ahead of schedule," Macua Huitl said, grimly, as he reached out in the Force. He could sense several Terran vessels in the immediate vicinity. But there was something else. Macua reached deeper, and found something that just didn't belong. A perversion of nature. "Nephilim," he muttered, as though cursing. It really should not have surprised him that the Terrans would use these monsters; they'd done it before. He checked the sensors, and quickly located a Nephilim saucer with a smaller, carrier ship behind it. Those two vessels were the source of the interdiction field.

Space exploded into deadly life as the small Celestial/Alliance fleet opened up with golden-orange and green fire. The Terran/Nephilim fleet replied with red and silver-white fire. Vessels from both sides began to disgorge their fighters, adding to the chaos.

* * *

 **Ziggy felt** a little sick, as his X-wing left the _Turk Brand_. The two sides of the Force were more united than he's ever imagined possible, and yet he'd never felt the Force so... at war with itself. And underneath all that was the stench of an evil beyond death. The Aether. The power of the Force was supposed to be a gift, yet for Ziggy all it had really done was show him what a frightening place the universe could be...

A soft mental nudge from Yaqeel, his wingmate, pulled Ziggy out of his wallowing, and reminded him of the one good thing the Force had brought to him. He allowed himself to feel her comforting presence, and let it numb his fear.

Ziggy brought his mind back to the task at hand. Coming toward him and Yaqeel, behind a curtain of crimson energy, were a pair of Terran Lightningbirds. Wishing it hadn't been necessary, both Ziggy and Yaqeel responded with their own green fire. Deflector shields vibrated and sparked. The two pairs looped away from each other, and came around for another pass. Without really knowing why, Ziggy fired off a proton torpedo. Just before the torpedo made contact, a golden-orange needle of energy crashed into the Lightningbird's deflector shield. An instant later the Terran vessel blew apart.

The Celestial fighter responsible came up beside Ziggy's X-wing. The golden vessel had a pyramid-shaped aft, with the bow resembling an elongated version. It sported a pair of forward swept wings, each with an orange sphere set into the front, near the middle. The two brought their attention to Yaqeel's opponent. A large matte black blade appeared seemingly out of nowhere, and slammed into the Celestial craft. The Nephilim droid fighter came out the other end as its victim broke apart and exploded. Ziggy hadn't even felt it coming. With the Force writhing in pain like it was, something like a Nephilim Razor just hadn't registered.

Ziggy looped upward, and got his fighter's nose downward just as the small Nephilim craft was bending its wings forward. He fired a pair of proton torpedoes and fired his laser canons. The enemy craft was reduced to shrapnel before it could tear through Yaqeel's X-wing. Yaqeel's deflector shield was rippling wildly under the Lightningbird's crimson fire. Ziggy fired away until the enemy vessel became a ball of fire. He felt a sense of gratitude from the Bothan woman, and took up position at her side.

"Mind if I drop in?" came Yantahar's voice.

"Go ahead, Furry Leader," Yaqeel commed back.

"Thanks, Furry Three," Yantahar responded. "Just lost Two. Five just lost control, and vaping ran into her," he added tensely. Ziggy frowned; that kind of thing wasn't supposed to happen. Not with Force users.

"The fleet's trying to take out, or at least scare off, that wheel," Yantahar commed. "Thought you two could help with some guard duty."

The trio managed to dodge and/or destroy several enemy fighters on their way to the main event. They soon arrived on the scene of a hellishly colorful display of light. Golden Tho Yors and the smaller Nibu cruisers fought alongside grayish Star Destroyers and lumpy, whitish Mon Calamari cruisers. Arrayed against them were the Nephilim saucer ship, along with the seed-shaped Nephilim carrier ships and several Terran War cruisers.

Ziggy frowned when he noticed the _Turk Brand_ , the Alliance's sole _Vanquisher_ -class Star Destroyer, firing away at the saucer. The monster Nephilim ship was savagely returning fire, while Lightningbirds and Razors were swarming around the massive, arrowhead-shaped vessel. Yantahar put the trio on a course toward the _Brand_.

But Ziggy felt an irresistible pull, and suddenly looped away from his comrades. "Four, what the Void are you doing!" Yantahar demanded.

"It's the Force," Ziggy returned calmly, blasting away from the _Turk Brand_. He barrel rolled and weaved around the incessant enemy fire directed his way. He was headed toward the Nephilim saucer with no idea what he was doing, but he trusted the Force. He barely evaded a huge bolt of silver-white fire.

Ziggy launched a pair of proton torpedoes at an approaching Lightningbird; he fired all four laser cannons right before the torpedoes hit. The Terran fighter exploded in a fiery shower of super heated crystal shrapnel. He continued onward, unconcerned with his own safety. He was fighting for something far bigger than himself. The stakes were far greater than just one life.

Ziggy felt a faint whisper of the Aether right before a Razor appeared on his tail. His deflector shield began heaving as the Nephilim droid fighter proceeded to fire on him. Ziggy brought his X-wing closer to the massive saucer. He suddenly side-slipped, allowing a blast from the saucer to destroy the bogey behind him.

Ziggy drew ever closer to the saucer, letting the Force guide his every move. Evading fire that he otherwise would have been unable to. He fired constantly at the Nephilim vessel's deflector shield, and launched off his remaining proton torpedoes. He pulled up, and was headed away from the monster as an explosion sprouted from its surface. Several large green laser beams, from turbolaser batteries, converged near where Ziggy had hit, creating a considerably bigger detonation.

Ziggy rolled his fighter onto its side, barely avoiding another homicidal Razor. Something crashed against his deflector shield, causing a series of small sparks to leap from his control console. He checked his diagnostics display; his shield strength was already dangerously low, and dropping. Deciding it would be best to get out of the fight, he set a course for the _Turk Brand_.

Ziggy realized his heart was hammering in his chest, and that he was soaked with sweat. He was exhausted. But considering what the Force had just allowed him to do...

Unseen behind him, the saucer's deflector began quivering. Sparks proceeded to erupt along its surface. And then it seemed to stretch before disappearing in a great flash of light. While Ziggy had not seen the monster retreat to hyperspace, he had felt it. The rest of the ships in this battle, that were still capable, would also be entering hyperspace soon. And he really wanted to get of this dang X-wing.

Capital ships from both sides were flashing out of realspace by the time Ziggy made it to the _Turk Brand_. He brought his X-wing into the _Vanquisher_ -class Star Destroyer's hangar bay, and landed with a mildly jarring thump. He glanced through the magcon field just as the star stretched into long lines, and then melted together. He reached out to Yaqeel, and breathed a sigh of relief. She'd made it aboard.

Ziggy waited for someone to push a ladder up to his X-wing before disembarking. He slowly climbed down the ladder. He sat down on an equipment crate to catch his breath, and noticed that his fighter was parked very crooked. He shrugged, unconcerned.

"Hey, Zig."

Ziggy glanced up to see a gorgeous Bothan woman with tan fur and shoulder length red brown hair walking over to him. "Hi, 'Qeel."

"You okay, Zig?" Yaqeel asked, sitting down beside him on the crate.

"Yeah. That whole thing with the Force... it kind of drained me."

Yaqeel patted his knee. "Makes sense. That was pretty impressive what you did back there."

"I was just doing what the Force was... telling me to."

She nodded. "But still, being able to connect with the Force that way was Jedi Master level stuff."

"You can call me Master Carmichael, then," Ziggy said, with a goofy grin.

Yaqeel rolled her eyes. "I'm gonna head back to my quarters, and catch a shower," she said, standing up.

"I think I'll join you..." Ziggy's face reddened some when he realized how that sounded. "I mean, uh, I'll head back to _my own_ quarters, and take a shower _separately_ from you but at the same time..." He stopped when he noticed that she was giggling.

"Oh, Zig, you really don't know how to talk to a pretty girl, do you?"

"If you were merely pretty..."

"Relax Zig," Yaqeel said, patting his shoulder. "Would you like to grab a bite to eat, later?"

"Do you mean... just us?"

"Just us," she repeated, with a small smile.

Ziggy was about to ask her if this was a date, but thought better of it. For him it might have been, but for Yaqeel it was simply two friends spending time together. _I'm good with that._

 **Nibiru**

Holographic representations of Admiral Bwua'tu and a Nibu man named Macua Huitl had just joined Corran Horn, the Fels, and Shotel Za in his office. "The Terrans have obviously managed to gain control of the Nephilim," Macua was saying. This man was not bald, as Shotel Za had been, but had long, dark hair that was pulled back into a sort of topknot. He also lacked facial hair. His eyes were a pale hazel color. Macua was dressed just as Shotel Za, but with a turquoise sash in place of a maroon one.

"We barely made it out of there," Bwua'tu added. "We hit that wheel just hard enough to force it into hyperspace. But that whole blasted thing pushed our fleet way off course."

"The Nephilim will find us again," Macua Huitl warned. "And the... wheel will certainly be more heavily guarded this time. We need a way to disable them the next time they show up." Jaina hadn't been expecting things to get _this_ much uglier so quickly.

"I know someone who might be able to help," Corran said.


	11. Chapter 11

**A/N: A new scene, on Nibiru, has been added to the end of chapter 10.**

 _ **Errant Venture**_

Three lightsaber blades, two gold and one green, buzzed and hummed, in the main training room, as Tahiri Veila and Thrace Solusar seemed to fight for their lives against a Nephilim foot soldier. The mechanized, wookiee-sized warrior was actually the Jedi Knight Seff Hellin. The Nephilim had transferred his consciousness into one of their mechanical brains, in hopes of having a Force capable foot soldier. But Seff had been able to break free of their control, and had fought back. It was his friendship with Tahiri that had given him the strength to do this.

Seff had shared a unique bond with Tahiri ever since they'd briefly become Joiners in a hidden Killik nest on the moon of Nrogu. Neither were sure of the exact nature of this bond, but Seff needed it now more than ever. He was a prisoner in a mechanical body that wasn't his, and he just wasn't as alive as he'd once been. He didn't breath, or have a heart that beat and pumped blood through his body. Nor did he produce any natural body heat. Their bond allowed Seff to feel the life in Tahiri's body. It was the only way he could feel alive. The only way he could hope to hold on to his humanity, and prevent the machine from taking over.

The mostly jet black colored Seff Hellin's forearms were currently in the form of savagely sharp sword blades. Tahiri swung her lightsaber at Seff's right flank. With a subtle motion he deflected it. He kicked out his leg toward Tahiri, forcing the green-eyed blond to jump back. Thrace was just returning to his feet, twirling his saberstaff to scatter Seff's silver-white fire. The blue-skinned Chiss Jedi leapt into the air as Seff swung his left leg. Seff suddenly stepped back, and used the Force to propel the red-eyed man further than he'd intended. Thrace landed on his stomach. He rolled over, and sighed when he found Seff leveling a long sword blade at his neck. Thrace groaned and, shutting off his weapon, headed to the sidelines. Seff turned his full attention to Tahiri...

And stopped upon sensing Corran Horn and another Force user, presumably Shotel Za, approaching. Tahiri shut off her green lightsaber, while Seff allowed his forearms to reformat themselves from sword blades into forearms. Corran and a nearly nine foot tall Nibu man walked into the gym. "I am Shotel Za," the tall man said, holding his palms together, and bowing his head slightly. Seff and the others introduced themselves the same way.

"You need my help," Seff said, recalling what Corran had told him over Tahiri's comlink. "I'll see what I can do." He spoke with the inhumanly deep and masculine voice of a vocorder from a YVH droid. While the voice wasn't his it was, at least, a male voice. It was far better than that bland, genderless voice which had originally come with this mechanical body.

* * *

 **Seff walked** into the makeshift lab where the control console and the power source of a Nephilim dropship sat. Unlike the outside of the vessel, which was a matte black, these components were mostly a dull silver-gray. He'd examine this machinery before, and had known, almost immediately, how it functioned. He understood the symbols on the console's touch screen. Seff found it disturbing that his mechanical brain knew so much. Why would this be the case if the mechanical brain was simply meant to hold a consciousness transferred to it? Were the Nephilim ruled by machines? Whatever the case, it wasn't relevant at the moment.

Seff reconnected the control console to the power source. He then turned to Tahiri. "I need to fully embrace my... Nephilim brain in order to do this." The prospect frightened him; it meant he'd have to let of the near constant Force meld they shared...

Tahiri sighed. "It's okay. I'll bring you back." Seff abruptly turned away from her, hoping she was right. He forced his soul to let go of hers. Seff could feel himself floating away from her. He wanted to reach back, but stopped himself. A sensation of falling came upon him. Seff fought back his fear, and took hold of this feeling. He let go of himself. He let go of all emotion. Until he was nothing, and only the machine remained.

He sat down behind the Nephilim console, and began typing away. Like typical Nephilim code, much of his code was polyfunctional, having one function when read from left to right, and another the other way. And some of these strings of code were also woven together. He created many subroutines designed to appear as harmless, perhaps even potentially helpful, redundancies. A very small percentage of these redundancies were, in fact, viruses. While they were not intended to hinder the Nephilim hive-mind's functionality, these viruses would weaken the enemy's cyber defenses for the next phase. The scope of this first phase was quite limited, as too large an attack would raise red flags in the Nephilim mainframe.

The entirety of his life's purpose was to weaken the Nephilim. It was an end in itself. He cared nothing for what would come afterward, for there was no 'afterward'. Now was all that existed. This is what it was to embrace the machine. There was no pain. No sorrow. No suffering. There was the serenity of emotional nothingness. Perhaps he was meant to let the machine prevail. Why else would the Force allow him to be put in this body? With a brain that could not process any sort of emotion?

 _ **Olympus Mons**_

Irisia experienced a predatory sense of excitement as numerous Celestial and Alliance contacts appeared on the sensors. The visual display showed the enemy vessels as bursts of light as the Nephilim interdiction field dragged them out of hyperspace. "Stations!" the purple haired Grand Admiral ordered. Irisia's intent was to kill as many of the enemy as possible while avoiding unacceptable losses to her own forces.

The Terran War cruisers and the _Olympus Mons_ surged forward, their beam weapons stabbing mercilessly away at the front of the Celestial/Alliance coalition. Lightningbirds blasted ahead of their carriers, easily avoiding their massive crimson energy beams. The Terran vessels' flank and rear shields went up to full power just before their enemy opened fire. The Terran vessels' flank weapons silently roared to life, their power no longer being shunted to propulsion.

A formation of Tho Yors and their smaller cousins, Tho Yens, lumbered forward. A number of Alliance vessels brought up the rear. The superior deflector shields of the Celestial ships provided very good cover. Alliance fighters and Tho Yads, the Celestial fighters, hung around their carriers like vicious, stinging insects.

Even as this took place, rounded silhouettes were moving into position behind the enemy fleet, blotting out starlight in the process. Almost as quickly as that began, this darkness began to unleash its own stars. Hordes of Razors poured out, just waiting for the chance to slip under a weakened deflector shield. Sparks erupted from behind the Alliance vessels in the rear as the Nephilim carrier ships sought to disable their propulsion systems. A Mon Calamari cruiser quickly succumbed, followed by a Star Destroyer.

The Tho Yors and Tho Yens unleashed their golden fire on the Nephilim vessels. Those Celestial ships' omni-directional gravity pulse engines allowed them to move in on the Nephilim vessels without having to turn about. Many of the Nephilim vessels were forced to break off their attacks. No longer having to put as much energy into their aft shields, some of Alliance ships in the rear began turning about and bringing their energy weapons and ordnance to bear against the Nephilim.

The enemy fleet sought to spread, like an infection, while the Terran and Nephilim forces fought to contain it. Deflector shields on both sides heaved and lit up under a constant colorful barrage. Irisia's forces were slowly tightening the noose, slowly strangling the enemy. Several Terran beam weapons were focusing their efforts on one of the Tho Yors; its shield rippled horribly under the assault. Irisia ordered a few more beam weapons to the task. The Tho Yor's weapons systems shut down as more power was devoted to the deflector shield. The protective energy bubble held on a moment longer before popping, allowing the vessel within to become slag and shrapnel. More enemy ships began to perish, including a pair of Tho Yens. Irisia could feel her blood lust growing at this. Her people were gradually bringing down the enemy, as a predator brought down its prey.

"Something's wrong! Someone's hacking the Nephilim." Siffia said, her voiced raised in panic. Unlike most Terrans, the young woman had great difficulty maintaining an emotionless mindset under pressure. "I'm trying to keep their systems up and running but..." She sighed. "I think I can make the Nephilim ram some of the enemy ships before they..." The girl trailed off as the Nephilim vessels stopped firing. Their shields and propulsion began failing. The Celestial/Alliance fleet began reducing the Nephilim vessels to fiery wrecks.

Irisia's heart threatened to become a fiery wreck. She barely heard Siffia muttering to herself, about subroutines and back doors, as she watched the enemy break containment. The Celestial/Alliance fleet began to spread out, intending to block the Terran vessels' exit vectors. Irisia's fleet would have to fight its way through the enemy in order to escape.

Irisia studied the sensor screen; not too far from the _Olympus Mons_ ' position was a massive Star Destroyer. "Put us on course for the _Turk Brand_ ," she ordered. She could sense Luke Skywalker and Admiral Bwua'tu aboard the ship. Killing them both would deal a major blow to the morale of the Jedi and the Galactic Alliance.

"On it," said Daedalus. The Terran Annihilation cruiser vibrated as the mighty vessel violently altered its course. Soft ringing filled the air for a brief moment, from the added stress on the _Olympus Mons'_ crystalline frame. The _Mons_ ' three beam weapons flared to life, and hammered into the _Turk Brand's_ deflector shield. A great swarm of Lightningbirds fell upon the Alliance vessel, raining down crimson rage. All manner of Alliance fighters and Tho Yads came to the _Vanquisher_ -class Star Destroyer's defense, along with two Tho Yors and a quartet of Tho Yens.

On Irisia's order three Terran war cruisers, all that could be spared, charged toward the approaching enemy ships. Red clashed with golden-orange as the two sides exchanged fire. The Terran ships' three beam weapons converged on one of the Tho Yors. The Celestial vessel's deflector shield sparked, and a geyser of flame erupted from its hull. Another explosion gushed out from the same area. The third explosion ripped the Tho Yor apart. One of the Terran war cruisers broke off from its siblings to assail the Tho Yens, while the other two focused on the remaining Tho Yor.

A massive gout of flame spewed from the _Turk Brand's_ nose, under the combined fire of the _Olympus Mons_ ' beam weapons. Meanwhile, the Lightningbirds were causing detonations all across the Star Destroyer's surface. It wouldn't be long until the ship become a massive tomb. And it wouldn't be much longer after that until this battle was turned back into a victory.

 ** _Turk Brand_**

Constant vibrations, like a very irregular heartbeat, rocked the _Turk Brand_. And alarms wailed in distress. Luke Skywalker knew that if something wasn't done about the _Olympus Mons_ that this ship was going to be destroyed. He knew exactly why Irisia was doing this, and it grieved him that she could be so cruel. It didn't seem at all like the compassionate, beautiful woman he knew she was. Luke knew about the emotionless, predatory mindset Terrans could enter; it was merely a defense mechanism, but that was no comfort to him now.

The Jedi Grand Master needed to forget how he felt about Irisia. He couldn't deny that the Terrans were good, decent people. But they were trying to kill other good, decent people. If allowed to, the Terrans would kill everyone Luke cared about. The decision to fight against the Terrans, had thus been made for him.

Luke turned to Admiral Bwua'tu. "I'm ready to fight. I can get people onto that ship."

"That Fallanasi illusion thing?" the Bothan admiral asked.

"Yeah," he responded. "See if Macua Huitl can send some people over."

* * *

 **With twenty** one fully armored Celestial soldiers crammed in, Luke engaged the _Jade Shadow's_ repulsors. He flew the _Horizon_ -class star yacht ship through the _Turk Brand's_ magcon field, and out into the coldness of space. The _Jade Shadow's_ silvery hull began to darken, while pinpoints of light came to life. Cloaked by darkness and light, the _Shadow_ made its way toward the _Olympus Mons_. The Jedi Master and his eight to nine foot tall passengers were also hidden, in the Force.

With the Force guiding his every move, Luke wove the _Shadow_ around fire, from both fleets, and ships whose pilots could not see them. The _Olympus Mons_ began to loom larger and larger in the forward viewport. The Annihilation cruiser's deflector shield began rippling, under the _Turk Brand's_ fire, especially around the vessel's nearest hanger bay. This required a delicate balance, as the Terran crew could not be allowed to know that someone intended to board their ship.

Sparks shot out into space as the _Turk Brand's_ assault on the hangar bay intensified. A pair of concussion missiles exploded from the _Jade Shadow_ , and hammered into the _Mons'_ deflector shield. At the same time, Luke was putting more power into the yacht's deflector shield. And then, like a parasite, the _Shadow_ slipped into its host.

Luke followed the Celestial soldiers out of the _Shadow_ , and onto the flight deck. The floor was a silver-gray, while the walls were a warm pink orange that pulsed with a soft light. The air was fresh, not at all like the artificial, recycled air typically found aboard a starship. He had never been aboard a ship that had felt so alive in the Force. And it would be him and his demons turning this paradise into hell.

The Celestial soldiers quietly unsheathed their swords, as the group crept toward an exit from the hangar bay. Luke silently cursed the hum a lightsaber made; he remained near the center of the group, where he wouldn't need to activate his weapon right away. There was a an odd ringing sound as one of the soldiers used the Force to pry open a pair of large doors. The group slipped through, and into an empty hallway. Several doors were set into the inner edge of the corridor.

A sense of danger wormed its way to the forefront of Luke's mind, just before a hail of indigo lightning bolts began shrieking through the air. Luke's lightsaber was batting away the enemy fire almost before he fully realized he turned it on. Long silver swords also flashed through the air. Light blue energy began to leap off the Celestials' swords as they returned fire.

Weapons soon began to clash as the ranks of Celestials, so disturbingly alike in their turquoise armor, met with Terran soldiers, all wearing personalized armor, and wielding unique weapons. Luke's green lightsaber clashed with staff weapon, with a long, vibrating blade at either. The owner wore mostly red armor, with orange detailing. On the larger pieces of armor were dark silver reliefs of tentacles. Like the other Terrans he wore a helmet, with a shield-shaped panel covering his mouth and nose. A pair of red eyes glared out from the visor above. Luke immediately began drawing heavily on the Force; he knew from sparring with Irisia that he could never hope to match a Terran's incredible strength.

Luke instinctively jumped back, just as a slender whip-like tail swung toward him. He twirled his lightsaber connecting with triangular stinger. It fell to the floor, unheard in the chaos of battle. Luke charged back toward his opponent. He could tell that the man was less experienced than himself. Luke took full advantage of this, pushing the man back. He shut off his lightsaber, aimed the pommel at the man's neck, and then reactivated the weapon. Luke was spinning away from him before his dead body could thump to the ground.

The Terrans in the immediate area were all dead, as were several Celestial soldiers. "We must head to the bridge," said the Nibu man beside him, Zulfi Qar.

"Alright," Luke said, hurrying after him and seven of the remaining Celestials. The sooner the bridge crew was eliminated, the sooner the _Olympus Mons_ would cease firing on the _Turk Brand_.

Luke suddenly felt a nearby soldier die, and whipped around to see a woman wearing armor in different shades of pink. She was savagely tearing the spear end of her staff weapon from what had once been the Nibu man's face. Luke plunged his lightsaber into the center of her chest before she could bring her weapon to bear. She made a soft whimpering sound as the energy blade burned through her heart. Five other Terrans lay on the floor, dead.

Zulfi Qar said nothing of his dead comrade, and led the survivors onward. It wasn't long before they came to the doors leading to the bridge. Luke felt a massive exertion of Force energy from the man as the doors were seemingly blown inward.

Luke's lightsaber blade buzzed and flashed through the air, deflecting numerous bursts of indigo fire. The enemy fire came almost in continuous streams, as with automatic blaster. The group entered the bridge, and the Jedi Master set his sights on a Terran man in dark blue armor. The edges of the armor panels were silver. On some of the panels was a depiction, in vivid orange, of a strange creature Luke didn't recognize. The man's staff weapon consisted of a curled, silvery meta-material, with a fist-sized crystal, that was mostly blue with a bit of orange, set into the middle. To either side of the crystal were matching orbs of almost-matter. One end sported a long drill, from which spewed bolt after bolt of dark blue lightning.

Luke kept an eye out for a tail, as he and his opponent ran toward each other. The man twirled his weapon, trying to bring a sort of pickax down into Luke's chest. The Jedi Master's lightsaber blade sparked as it intercepted the staff weapon. He sensed the man's tail swinging toward him, and clenched his fist; the man grunted as his tail was broken. Luke turned his hand, twisting the stinger off of the Terran's tail.

The man grunted again, but seemed otherwise unaffected. He proceeded to land vicious blows down on Luke's lightsaber, at times nearly knocking the weapon from his hand. The Jedi Master soon found himself being backed toward a wall. Luke began to draw even more heavily from the Force, but still continued to lose ground.

Darth Vader's son felt a rage begin to build up within himself. There was more power, just waiting for him to tap into it. Though it was often used for such, the dark side was not evil. Using the dark side to enhance one's strength, for the purpose of self defense, wasn't wrong. So he focused on his rage, allowing it to burn through him. Luke's mind probed at the Force barrier around the blue armored man, seeking any weaknesses in his defenses. And then the Terran man's right leg bent at an unnatural angle. The man stumbled, slightly, to the right.

The son of Darth Vader took advantage of the situation by shutting off his lightsaber and then reactivating it, letting the blade impale, and then shatter the middle of the Terran's staff weapon. The orbs of almost-solid energy flickered briefly, before lighting back up, but remained a bit dim.

Luke felt a pressure on his neck as his opponent desperately tried to break his neck with the Force. The man tried to get past Luke's lightsaber. But the Terran's connection to the Force was fading quickly. All Luke had to do was hold on long enough... He suddenly noticed his lightsaber blade swinging through the air. The dark side flowed through his arm, putting more power into the equation. The light green blade sparked as it contacted armor. The air seemed to hiss as the blade cut through the man's neck.

Vader's son instinctively spun around, batting bolts of indigo lightning back at a woman wearing mostly purple armor. Much of her armor, including her helmet, was missing. The purple-haired woman's flightsuit had been slashed in few places, and he could see a fair amount of dried, or drying, blood. Her tail hung limp, and stingerless, behind her. He felt his heart drop into his stomach. Irisia. He didn't want to have to kill her, but he knew she was intent on killing him. Fury and hatred boiled off of her. She didn't just want to kill him; she wanted to _murder_ him. The Heir of Darth Vader would simply have to murder her first.

The two combatants met, exchanging savage blows. The spiky ball launched outward on its chain, and swung toward his neck. He used the Force to slow it down, and easily stepped out of the way. But Irisia was ready; she suddenly spun her staff weapon the other way, smashing the other end into his right hand. He raised his left hand, hurling her into a wall, as his lightsaber fell from his useless prosthetic hand. His weapon flew into his left hand, as Irisia returned to her feet.

Vader's son drew more heavily on the dark side, as he and Irisia met a second time. He managed to break through her defenses, and score a few hits that would have brought a human down. He slashed at her shoulder. Irisia didn't quite move out of the way in time, and the tip of the blade burned into her flesh.

Vader's son reached deeper into that well of dark power, and found the strength to hate this woman. And why not hate her? She hated him. His lightsaber continued to crash upon her staff weapon. She continued to tire under the weight of his fury. It was only a matter of time until he took her down. He used the Force to slam her against the wall. A telekinetic yank tore her staff weapon from her grasp, to send it skidding to the floor. He tried to cut her in two at the waist, but she spun out of the way. The son of Darth Vader sensed another opening, and swung. His lightsaber sliced through her flightsuit, tearing into her side. Blood poured from the wound for a split second. She used the Force to put pressure on the wound, but couldn't completely stop the bleeding. Sweat poured down her face, and she began shaking slightly.

Vader's son felt her reaching out toward her weapon. He held it to the floor with the Force. Just a few more seconds, and she would completely lose her connection to the Force. Bleed out. Die.

He glanced at her staff weapon; the light in its main crystal, and in the orbs of almost matter, was fading. The light went almost dead, and the weapon folded up into its compact form. She groaned, and crumpled to the ground.

He just stood there a moment, watching the life drain out of her body. It wouldn't be long now... What the vaping Void was he doing? This would be murder. It wasn't as though Irisia were some Sith Lord trying to wrest control of the galaxy. She was a woman fighting for her life, and the lives of people. Luke loved her; he could not, and would not, let her die. He reached out in the Force, and focused on Irisia's wound. The bleeding stopped almost immediately.

Luke just stood there a moment, watching Irisia lie on the floor. He couldn't believe he'd nearly murdered her. He'd let himself become consumed by the dark side, and only his love for this woman had pulled him out. If the dark side truly wasn't evil, then the only other explanation was that this evil had come from himself.

"Master Skywalker," said a familiar voice.

Luke spun around, to see a Celestial soldier stepping away from the bodies of two dead Terrans. "Zulfi Qar." He glanced nervously at Irisia, and then back at him. He opened his mouth, but nothing would come out.

"I am deeply sorry, my friend, but that woman is an enemy combatant. She cannot be allowed to live."

Luke could feel his heart climbing its way up into his throat. "Please don't do this, Zulfi Qar," he pleaded.

"I'm sorry Master Skywalker, but we mustn't allow our feelings to interfere with what must be done. I take no pleasure in this."

"If we're merciful to them, maybe-"

"'Maybe' is inadequate. The Terrans will never show us mercy. Thus we have no reason to show it to them." Zulfi Qar pointed the blade of one of his swords at the center of Irisia's chest. "You should look away," he said, his tone suddenly much softer.

Luke could sense Irisia's staff weapon on the floor behind him. It was suddenly rocketing through the air. Luke clenched his fist when the weapon was about an inch from Zulfi Qar's chest. The weapon almost instantaneously unfolded, driving its spear tip straight through him. Luke Force yanked it out, leaving the Nibu man to fall to the floor, dead.

Luke turned to Irisia; she was growing weaker by the second. He knelt down beside Irisia, and reattached her weapon, which had folded back up, to her leg holster. "You need to go into a healing trance," he told her. The Terran woman was lucid enough to understand him. Luke could feel the Force gently falling upon her as she tried to heal herself.

Luke scooped her up and, drawing heavily on just the light side, ran toward the _Jade Shadow_. He found himself hoping none of the Celestial soldiers had survived. Maybe that was an awful thing to wish for. But if just one of them was waiting for him at the _Jade Shadow_ , he knew Irisia wouldn't be making it out of here alive.

Luke came upon the _Jade Shadow_ to find no one waiting for him; he bounded up the boarding ramp. "I'm so sorry I did this to you," he told an unconscious Irisia, as he sat down in the rear left seat. He strapped her in, and dropped down into the pilot's seat. Luke keyed on the comm even as his ship rose up on its repulsors. "I need a med team on standby," he commed to the _Turk Brand_.

"On it," returned a voice.

Luke glimpsed numerous Terran ships disappearing into hyperspace as the _Shadow_ blasted out into space. As a result he encountered no resistance on his way back to the _Turk Brand_. He brought the _Shadow_ through the magcon field to find a team of medics already waiting, with a hover gurney. Luke quickly carried Irisia down the boarding ramp, and gently placed her on the gurney.

The medics were visibly surprised to find a Terran in their midst. But Luke could tell that they saw her as a patient, rather than an enemy combatant. "I'm using the Force to keep pressure on that wound," he said, gesturing to the deep wound in her side.

"Good thinking," a four armed Cudo-Ji man said, approvingly. "Can you help us prep her for the tank?"

"Yeah," Luke said, finally beginning to realize just how exhausted he was.

 **A/N: The reason(s) for Luke going so dark will be further explored later on.**


	12. Chapter 12

_**Turk Brand**_

Luke Skywalker sat in a plastoid chair, watching over Irisia, as though he could will her to live. She floated, unconscious, within the pale blue liquid of a bacta tank. She was curled up in the fetal position. A tube was connected to a mask over her mouth and nose, like some oddly placed umbilical cord. The Terran staff weapon strapped to her left leg pulsed softly as the Force and the bacta fought to save her life. The large wound in her side had been stitched back together, and a large pressure bandage had been wrapped around her middle. There were several similar bandages around her arms and legs.

Luke had nearly murdered Irisia. But he realized that he hadn't been the only one whose mind had been set on murder. He'd felt that same darkness from her. Luke really hated what this war was showing him about himself. While it certainly wasn't an excuse for their behavior, he suspected it had something to do with the Force being at war with itself and falling out of balance. This war wasn't light against dark; it was light and dark against... itself. Luke didn't know what the end result would be, but he knew this conflict had to end. Soon. The Aether was moving. And the Force destroying itself was exactly what it wanted...

Luke turned around as he sensed a familiar presence walking toward him. "Master Skywalker," said Admiral Bwua'tu.

"Admiral," Luke greeted tiredly, a bit surprised to find him in the med bay.

Bwua'tu glanced at Irisia. "How is she?"

Luke sighed. "Not good. She lost a lot of blood. Medics said a blood transfusion would probably kill her. Barely made it into the tank. Might not make it out."

Bwua'tu grabbed a nearby chair, and sat down. "You did what you had to do. A lot of people would have died..."

"I know. But I... still don't feel good about what I did back there."

"No one should ever feel good about killing someone," Bwua'tu agreed.

"And these were good people that I killed. The Terrans may be fighting against us, but they're not the bad guys. I was the bad guy." Luke watched Irisia float in the tank for a moment before returning his attention to the admiral. "I almost let her die. I was just gonna stand there, and watch her bleed to death."

Bwua'tu blew out his breath, clearly surprised by Luke's confession. "But you didn't."

"I couldn't. I love her."

"You can't help who love," Bwua'tu said sympathetically. Luke knew he was talking about Natasi Daala. "I doubt the Celestials or Scaur will be happy about this. If I'm ordered to have her executed... If I refuse I'll be replaced by someone who will do it."

"I wouldn't hold it against you, sir."

"I appreciate it," Bwua'tu said. He was silent a moment. "Looks like you lost a few parts," he commented.

Luke glanced down at the stump where his right hand had once been. He nodded toward Irisia. "Sometimes a woman will tear you apart," he joked with a wry smile.

Bwua'tu shook his head in amusement. "How true. If anyone asks why you saved her, don't tell them it's because you love her. Tell them we can't get any valuable intel from her if she's dead."

* * *

 **Chief of** State Dif Scaur's eyes nervously tracked Savannah Eddlebrook as she took a seat on the other side of his desk. Once again, he was about to commit treason. And once again, this sin would be used to blackmail him into committing more sins. One blasted conversation had damned him to this new life of slavery.

There had just been so many refugee ships. The Nephilim had left them alone, hoping the military would expend more resources protecting them. Not being one to play into his enemy's hand, Scaur had contacted disgraced former Imperial Admiral Natasi Daala, and asked her to arrange for something to be done. And then Darth Krayt had come, and essentially turned those ships into missiles against the Nephilim fleet. Daala, that wretched mynock, must have leaked that conversation Scaur had had with her.

"I believe you have something for me," Savannah said, with a cheerful little smile. A smile that made Dif Scaur sick to his stomach. He reluctantly pulled open a small drawer in his stonewood desk. Inside sat a lone datacard. With a sigh he picked it up and placed it atop the desk. And with that he had just signed the death warrants for thousands of deep cover Alliance operatives. There were some in Moff Lecersen's terrorist portion of the Empire, some within the Hapes Consortium, and others in Black Sun, among many other organizations. There would also be information on various assets the Galactic Alliance possessed, along with shipping routes, resources, and other classified material.

"Anything else I can do for you?" Scaur asked.

"I believe I am all set. Just do what we tell you and we'll make sure to keep you safe. After all, we always protect our assets." _Which I don't._ The door slid open, and Savannah Eddlebrook walked out into the hallway. Scaur waited until the door closed again before groaning, and resting his head in his hands. Time for a stiff drink.

 _ **Minotaur**_

Zane Heimerbach sat there in the darkened cyber ops room, with just the light of the computer monitor. His combination of wide cheekbones, a rather pronounced brow, a square lower jaw, and big ears gave his face a somewhat brutish appearance. His bald head would have looked more at home on a larger man, perhaps one of those muscle heads who could bench press a few hundred pounds. But Zane Heimerbach was, in fact, a slicer and analyst under the indirect employ of Moff Lecersen.

He felt a nervous exhilaration as his hands flew over the keyboard. He had only a limited amount of time to complete his task; if he didn't finish in time... He frowned as he heard footsteps approaching. Just a wee bit more frantic typing... He hit the execute key. A simple highlight of his recent activities, a press of the delete key, and his job was done. Almost.

Zane quickly got onto INet, and was watching a holo of a kitten playing with a tissue box by the time the footsteps stopped at his station. The throat behind him cleared itself with a cough. Zane turned around in his chair to face the _Minotaur's_ Chief of Cyber Operations, a brunette woman who likely didn't have a personal life away from a screen. "Sorry," he apologized.

She waved it away, unconcerned. "There's something I need you to take a look at."

"Alright." Zane stood up, and walked over to the woman. "So, whaagh!" The second word became something between a groan and a scream as a painful jolt spread through his body.

* * *

 **"It's reported** that Admiral Darklighter's wife and two daughters were aboard one of the ships," the reporter went on. The image panned to the aftermath of the incident. Space was littered with the debris of destroyed starships. Sebastian just stared at the screen, struggling to process what he was hearing. Maybe it was just a mistake. People made mistakes all the time.

But what if it wasn't a mistake? What if his mother and sisters _had_ just been murdered? Denial. The first stage of grief. Sebastian felt himself beginning to lose his composure, and decided to head to his quarters. He needed to be alone...

Sebastian woke up to ice cold water being splashed on his face. He was in his boxers and undershirt, his wrists and ankles taped to a chair. His cover had just been blown. "Could you do that again. I'm still pretty thirsty." A punch to his stomach answered that question. A swift kick to the chair knocked it over. Sebastian managed to bring his head to his chest so that it didn't smash into the floor. A small towel went over his face, and he braced himself for an unpleasant face-full of waterfall.

As he'd been taught to do, Sebastian tried to take his mind to another place. The only place he could seem to go was back to the day his mother and sisters had been murdered. "There's a rumor that some Sith named Krayt actually hijacked their minds an' made 'em crash their ships into the Nephs," the other said.

"That's some crazy stuff," Sebastian said, forcing his voice to remain casual. He clenched his fist beneath the table, digging his nails slightly into his palm; he wanted to go on until he started bleeding. He was certain the rumors were true. After all, the Empire had worked with the Sith in the past.

Sebastian focused on his newfound hatred of the Sith, namely Krayt, as the frigid water poured over his face. He made a show of struggling and muffled screams; perhaps he could convince these people that he was already being broken. His only recourse was to try to confuse his enemy, and try to feed them misleading information. He really didn't know anything substantial. That was by design, in case he was caught. His captors clearly didn't know that he didn't know anything, or he'd have already been spaced. Once they found out that he didn't know anything he would be spaced. Part of him hoped he would be; it would be far better than some of the other things they could do to him.

Someone pulled the wet towel off of his face, and tossed it onto the floor. That same brunette from earlier walked into his field of view, and brandished a small laser scalpel. "You don't match the picture we have on file," she commented in a matter of fact tone. "But we're going to change that by removing those pesky subcutaneous implants from your face."


	13. Chapter 13

_**Kuati Dagger**_ **: orbiting Kuat**

Asyr Sei'lar lay in one of the twin beds in the spare room of Gavin Darklighter's quarters. Though Gavin hadn't voiced it, she knew it wasn't where he'd hoped she'd be sleeping. But that wouldn't have been wise, and she wasn't even sure if she wanted that anymore. Asyr had changed so much since she'd left all those years. In order for her old self to remain dead and for her new self, a senator named Zorra Kel'yar, to exist she'd had to learn how to live alone. She'd had to learn how not to let anyone in. She doubted she still even knew how to be with someone.

And though he'd claimed he was, Gavin was not ready to be in another relationship. No one would be ready so soon after their spouse had been murdered. Losing his wife and wanting someone to hold at night was not reason enough to get into bed with a woman who'd been his fiance decades ago. Asyr suspected he was too blinded by his grief to see it that way.

The only reason Asyr had come back to Gavin was to help _him_. It hadn't been to help herself; Senator Zorra Kel'yar had been content with making Bothauwi a better world. Zorra had been far too busy to be lonely.

Asyr was wondering if she should try to get a little more sleep when she heard Gavin scream something, as though he were in pain. She threw the covers off her bed, and scrambled out of her room. In the currently dim light she could see Gavin sitting on the couch with his head in his hands. The Bothan woman jogged over to the couch. She sat down and patted his shoulder. "Gavin?" she asked softly.

"I just lost Sebastian," he mumbled. Asyr felt her heart drop. The poor man had just lost his wife and daughters. And now his son... "Scaur just called me. Some sleemo vaping leaked a lot of classified stuff. Blew Sebastian's..." He wiped at his eyes and looked over at her. "He was a deep cover operative in Lecersen's empire. Scaur says there's nothing we can do."

"Everyone I love is being taken from me," Gavin went on.

" _I'm_ still here," Asyr said, starting to rub his back. "Is there anything I can do?"

 _ **Minotaur**_

He let out a scream as an excruciating jolt exploded though his body. And then there was oblivion. It was completely dark here. Like the endless abyss of space, but with no stars. And cold. It was silent, the deafening kind that buzzed in one's ears. Sebastian had thought he was dead at first. But his back hurt so much. His shoulders ached because his wrists were bound behind him; he could feel the restraints digging into his wrists, and could smell blood. On his face was dried blood from when those implants had been cut out; he could still feel that laser scalpel burning into his skin.

He tried to sit up, but there was no room. He tried to shift position so that he could lie down, and of course there was no vaping room. So he was stuck in a hunched over position. He must have been in some sort of box.

He tried to remain calm, as though he'd be rescued from this claustrophobic hell. But he knew it was only a matter of time until he broke. He starting screaming, to maintain the ruse that he'd been broken. Sebastian thought about where his mind could go, but he just could not block out the pain. Thus his mind was trapped in his own body.

Perhaps he could find solace in sleep. His eyes were feeling quite heavy. He felt himself beginning to doze, and allowed his eyes to close... There was another scream as electricity shot through his body a second time. Sleep could not save him. Nothing could save him. Except death. Accept death. Oh how he wished those dianoga's had just spaced him.

 _ **Turk Brand**_

 _The door slid open, permitting Daedalus to enter Irisia's quarters. His face looked a bit pale, and he seemed devastated. "Dal, what's wrong?"_

 _Daedalus let out a weary sigh, and sat down on her bed. He placed a gentle hand on her knee, and gave an affectionate squeeze. "It's... Andromeda," he said slowly. "She's... gone."_

 _"What the Hades do you mean, she's gone!" Irisia demanded._

 _"I can't tell you how sorry-" Irisia suddenly screamed, upon realizing that her daughter had been killed in action. Daedalus silently embraced her. He held her for over an hour._

 _And then Irisia was standing on the bridge of the_ Olympus Mons _. A blue blade burned through Deadalus' neck. Less than a second later his head thumped to the floor. The rest of his body remained standing for a short time, before apparently realizing what had just happened, and then fell forward._

Irisia found herself floating in a sea of light blue. There was an odd, almost unpleasant, antiseptic smell in her nostrils. Bacta. Her staff weapon was no longer strapped to her leg, so she could not use the Force. She understood that, as she was considered an enemy combatant.

She noticed Luke Skywalker apparently asleep on a cot beside her tank. All the emotion of what she'd just relived flooded back to her. Though she could not feel it, submerged as she was, she knew she had to be crying. She couldn't help but hate him for all the pain he'd put her through. But she also loved him. He was a good man, doing what he had to do. And he had spared her life when he could have easily killed her.

After a while, Luke opened his eyes. Irisia could see the guilt on his face, reflecting the same guilt she felt. "Hi, Irisia," his voice said through a small speaker somewhere in the tank. "I can't apologize enough for what happened... what I did." No, he couldn't. "There's a microphone in the mask," Luke went on, "but try not to talk too much."

"I'm sorry about... all this, too," Irisia admitted. "This is not how I hoped things would turn out."

"Same here." Luke looked down at the floor with a sigh. And then back up at her. "I want your people to have been right about the so-called Destroyers. I want them to have been wiped out. I also want us to be on that double-date with Ben and Jysella."

Irisia was amused by that last bit. She took a breath and blew it out. "I wish things could be like that, Luke. But we both know that can never happen now. Because of you, my entire species faces extinction."

"I know. I wish I could take it back. But the universe doesn't work that way."

"No, it doesn't." Irisia was silent a few seconds, not wanting Luke to feel any worse, but needing to talk to someone. "Do you recall the Terrans you killed on the _Olympus Mons_?"

"Each one of them," Luke said with a nod, his voice plagued with guilt.

"The one wearing blue armor was named Daedalus. He was my chief tactical officer, but he was so much more than that; I loved him like a brother. His feelings for me... ran deeper. He consoled me after your... betrayal. My feelings for him might have started to change. But I'll never know for sure..."

Luke sighed. "Irisia, I'm so sorry."

Irisia could tell that he was having difficulty maintaining his composure. "I know."

"I've never gone that dark before," Luke commented, changing the subject slightly.

"The Force is dangerously out of balance," Irisia explained. "It has happened in my galaxy every time the Terrans have gone to war with the Nibu'i. And my people will never stop fighting for their own survival, perhaps not even if it damns the whole galaxy."

"That's what... killed your galaxy," Luke reasoned.

"Part of it; there are still many things hidden from my memory."

"I don't see this conflict lasting much longer," Luke said.

"I'm ready for it to end, even if..." her voice cracked a bit at that last word.

"We both know that's the only way this mess can end," Luke agreed gravely. "You won't want to hear this. And I feel like a schmuck for even saying this," he took a deep breath, "but if you were to give us some information..."

"You're asking me to aid in the genocide of my own people," Irisia accused.

"It's doing damage to the Force. And that's just going to make it easier for the Aether to do-"

"I think you should go," Irisia said with an icy edge to her voice. "I can't deal with you right now."

"Okay." Without another word, Luke left. And Irisia was alone with her misery, trapped in a giant test tube that gave her no privacy. Soft whimpering sounds began to escape her lips. He should have just let her die.


	14. Chapter 14

_**Olympus Mons**_

Outside the _Olympus Mons_ raged a psychedelic hell as multitudes of ships fired upon each other. The Annihilation cruiser shook under savage and desperate enemy fire, and a soft ringing sound filled the air. Siffia could feel her fellow Terrans being torn from life, and plunged into death. She was witnessing the extinction of her own people.

Siffia knew it was completely hopeless, yet she could not help trying to regain control of the Nephilim. On the off chance that it wasn't, in fact hopeless, the young woman could not allow herself to give up. Nor could Irisia allow _herself_ to give up, as she called out orders that were certain to be futile. Siffia was scarcely aware of the Grand Admiral's voice, as consumed as her world was by frantic lines of code.

"We've been breached," Irisia announced. Siffia just sat there a moment, frozen, that one phrase cutting through her concentration. The code she'd written was degrading right before her, bringing her to the verge of tears. Siffia seemed to get more upset about that sort of thing than most people. Though with so much depending on her coding skills...

Siffia nearly jumped upon feeling a gentle pat on her head. She looked up to see Irisia standing by her. "Don't worry about the code, daughter. Even I can see that it's pointless." Siffia was surprised to hear the word 'daughter'. She hadn't realized the Grand Admiral had loved her _that_ much. "I know you're scared, but I need you to join Kronos and Phaeton and help them defend the bridge. And don't fight your emotions; use them to make yourself stronger. You can do this, Sif."

"Alright," the young woman said. Siffia couldn't allow herself to die. She couldn't do that to this woman who loved her as her own. She brought her attention to the small cluster of armor paneling near the back of her neck. The panels almost instantly spread out around her head, forming a Medieval looking helmet. A visor over her eyes allowed her to see, while a small sort of 'shield' covered her mouth and nose. Attached to her upper left leg was a dark green crystal with copper-gold flecks inside and three lengths of a light-black meta-material corkscrewing around it. The crystal seemed to fly out of its holster, and landed in her hand. Siffia clenched her first, prompting it to unfold into a staff weapon with a spear tip at one end, and a wickedly sharp circular saw at the other end.

Siffia quickly joined up with Kronos and Phaeton, taking position behind and between them. Kronos, to her left, wore mostly silver and white armor, with light blue accepts. His matching staff weapon came to an elongated spear tip on either end. Phaeton's armor was black and gold. His weapon had a spear tip at one end, and a spike-covered mallet at the other.

The three exited the bridge and stepped into a long, empty hallway with several passages branching off the sides. They collectively sensed danger approaching and opened fire just as a pair of tall Celestial soldiers, a male and a female both wielding two long silver swords, stepped out from a side passage. The turquoise armored foes proceeded to bat the Terrans' fire back at them, and launched off their own fire from their swords. Siffia barely managed to deflect two bolts into the floor. She, Kronos, and Phaeton charged forward, meeting the Celestials in a brutal clash of weaponry.

Kronos and Phaeton went after the slightly larger male, while the ancient Kronos chose the female. Siffia remained between them in a supporting role, deflecting or inflicting blows where possible. The two Celestial soldiers began drifting apart, forcing the Terran men further apart. And forcing Siffia to work harder to aid her comrades. Kronos and Phaeton were doing an excellent job of blocking the Celestials' pairs of swords. But Siffia could sense through the Force that Kronos was beginning to tire.

Phaeton's hammer suddenly connecting with his opponent, creating a small dent in the Nibu man's armor. The man stumbled slightly backward from the impact, but remained standing. Siffia spun around and ran over to Kronos' side. The young woman was just in time to block a downward slash toward Kronos' neck. The saw shrieked as its teeth pushed the sword aside. Siffia spun her staff weapon around, batting the sword blade outward. Sparks erupted, and a few drops of blood joined in, as Siffia's saw cut into the Nibu woman's armor near the abdomen. Siffia's tail quietly slithered out, waiting for a chance to strike.

Siffia felt a surge of pain from Phaeton, and glimpsed a sword being driven through his abdomen. If he didn't receive medical attention soon, he would die; she could already feel him fading away. Something in Siffia snapped. A fiery rage exploded through her small body, and an invisible hand slammed the Celestial man into the far wall. She opened fire as she ran toward the man. Siffia was surprised to see blue lightning leaping from the spear tip of Phaeton's weapon. The poor man still had that sword in him, and yet he still fought. She realized that the sword that was killing him was also keeping him alive. Well, the Force was also helping to keep him alive. Or prolong his death.

The spear side of Siffia's weapon made contact with the male Nibu's sword. She spun the weapon around, but merely managed to scratch his armor. The sword crashed against her armored shoulder, and cut into her shoulder a bit. A warning suddenly burned its way into her brain. She spun out of the way just as the sword that had been stuck in Phaeton's abdomen came rocketing toward her. Blood was pouring from Phaeton's abdomen. Tears stung Siffia's eyes as she realized what she had to do. The black and gold weapon flew through the air, and smacked into the young woman's hand. Within a couple minutes Phaeton would lose his connection to the Force. He would lose his life.

Siffia felt something come undone within her, and had the feeling of scalding hot water being poured over her. She quickly closed in on the Celestial man, using her small size to evade his twin swords. She slammed the hammer into his chest, where Phaeton had already made a dent. He leapt back. Siffia blocked one of his swords; the other hit her abdomen but her armor deflected the brunt of it, leaving her with a mere cut to her left side. It simply made her angrier. Made her go after her enemy all the more fiercely.

The Nibu soldier continued to get past her defense, coming closer and closer to seriously wounding her. But she didn't care; all she wanted to do was kill this man. She suddenly loosened her grip slightly on each of her weapons, allowing the spear ends to shorten. At the same time her opponent was swinging both his swords toward her neck. The long silver weapons connected with her armor, and began to cut through to her flesh. Siffia clenched her fists, prompting her staff weapons to elongate. The weapon she'd taken from Phaeton went wide, but her own plunged through the dent in his armor. Siffia felt his Force barrier waver as he lost focus, and used the Force to snap his neck.

Siffia had already turned around and was headed toward Kronos, whose opponent had taken him around a corner, by the time the dead Celestial hit the floor. She turned into the hallway to find the ancient man holding his weapon in two pieces. A blue lambent crystal lay shattered on the floor, in faintly glowing shards.

Siffia opened fire with hers and Phaeton's staff weapons. The Nibu woman trying to murder Kronos proceeded to block Siffia's fire with one of her swords. The young woman noticed the blue lambent flickering. Siffia Force slammed the Celestial into a wall, and threw Phaeton's weapon toward Kronos. The old man dropped the remains of his nearly useless staff weapon, and used his waning connection to the Force to help the girl guide the weapon into his hand. The shattered blue lambent went dead just as Kronos was wrapping his fingers around Phaeton's weapon.

Kronos drew, almost frantically, upon that great wellspring of the Force. The white-haired man raised Phaeton's hammer just in time to deflect a vicious slash at his right collarbone. He spun the staff weapon, blocking that sword with its spear end. Siffia finally reached striking range of the turquoise armored Celestial woman, and began viciously swinging away. The small young woman led the attack, not wanting Kronos to have to endure the brunt of the Celestial woman's wrath.

Siffia was beginning to grow tired, but she was doing quite a bit better than Kronos. The ancient man was barely to hold his own, and Siffia doubted she could deal with two swords. She had to end this while Kronos was still standing. Her tail whipped around toward their opponent, then just as quickly whipped away when the taller woman tried to hack it off. Kronos suddenly charged at her, slamming away with his weapon, and trying to sting her. He grunted as most of his tail was cut off. But Siffia's tail made it through. She started to push out one of her poisonous barbs just before her stinger found the hole in her opponent's armor. The woman let out a brief gasp, before the rapidly acting neurotoxin stopped her heart.

Siffia glanced over at Kronos; he was breathing heavily and supporting himself on one of his knees. His tail lay lifeless on the floor by a tiny pool of blood. "We need to go," he just about wheezed. Siffia frowned beneath her helmet. The girl reached out in the Force to Irisia, and couldn't sense her anywhere. She must have been dead. Daedalus, also, must have been dead.

Siffia forced her emotions down; now was not the time to deal with them. She took Kronos' upper left arm, and headed toward the nearest hangar bay. She could sense multiple Lightningbirds there. Siffia practically dragged Kronos onto the flight deck. She helped him to the nearest Lightningbird, before climbing into one herself. She led the way out of the besieged _Olympus Mons_ , with Kronos' fighter tucked in behind her and to the right. It was a mad dash to escape from the war zone. And then both fighters seemed to stretch before vanishing. Siffia just there, too tired to feel much of anything.

 _ **Tharsis**_

Siffia glanced out a bridge viewport at the swirling gas outside the _Tharsis_. Oranges and pinks flowed into each other, and often merged. Mixed in were lines of fluorescent blues and greens. It helped take the young woman's mind off of things. Somewhat.

Siffia's staff weapon lay folded up on the table before her. After how far into darkness she'd gone, she'd decided it was prudent to be cut off from the Force for a while. Her flightsuit had quite a few tears in it, through which several bandages could be seen. She brought her copper-splotched gold eyes to Kronos' face. "We simply don't have the resources to win this war. And if we do try to surrender... the Nibu'i will just kill us all anyway. It's only a matter of time before they wipe us out."

Almost two hundred war cruisers, including the _Tharsis_ , had taken shelter within this beautiful nebula. Sensor readings could not pass through this cosmic gas cloud. Which meant that while the Terrans' enemies were blind to them, they were blind to what existed outside of the nebula. Almost. Small groups of Lightningbirds had been conducting scouting runs, and reporting back. So far, fortunately, they'd been reporting absolutely nothing.

Kronos sighed, and opened his mouth to say something. The white-haired man suddenly reached for Phaeton's staff weapon, folded up in the holster on his left leg. He placed the weapon on the table, and a hologram of a face appeared in the air. The first thing Siffia noticed were his striking green eyes. They had flecks of silver and a glowing lime-green. His light skin had subtle blue hue. He had dark green hair like hers.

"Hello, Zeus," Kronos said.

"Father Kronos," Zeus said. "Where is my brother, Phaeton?" His expression made it apparent he didn't expect a good answer.

"He has fallen, my son."

"I feared so," Zeus responded. He remained silent a moment. "I've been working with the Sith for a little over a year, now."

Kronos' expression turned curious. "I imagine they don't want the Celestials ruling this galaxy anymore than we do."

Zeus nodded. "Precisely. The Sith have a fleet of over six hundred ships. It should be ready to launch in about three days. The vessels are far from state of the art, but they should prove adequate."

"Then we must begin coordinating our respective forces..." Kronos trailed off as the _Tharsis_ suddenly shook.

"Stations!" called the ship's commander.

 ** _Nibiru Sunset_**

There before High Warmaster Macua Huitl's fleet lay a small gaseous nebula. It was the sort of place he himself would hide. Macua, who also served as the Head of the Lawmakers Guild, imagined he'd have appreciated the nebula's beauty had he not come here to slaughter people.

Macua Huitl glanced away from the viewport to the tactical display. The holographic wire frame cube showed the Tho Yors and Tho Yens of his fleet to be well spread out. "Fire," he ordered coldly over the fleet-wide frequency. The Warmaster brought his attention back to the viewport to see orbs of golden-orange fire fall upon, and then into, the cloud like rain in reverse.

"My lord," said his tactical officer, an older woman named Ginsu Ka, "many of our blasts aren't passing through the cloud."

Terran war cruisers, Macua assumed. The High Warmaster nodded. "Extrapolate beam firing solutions from that."

"As ordered."

The number of energy bursts dropped off slightly, in a favor of massive sunbeams, as weapons batteries, on many of the Tho Yors and Tho Yens, began joining their efforts. Seconds later similar, somewhat more powerful, crimson shafts of energy blazed out from the cloud, slamming into several of the Tho Yors responsible for the sunbeams. Some of the golden-orange beams ceased as energy was redistributed to the deflector shields and/or propulsion.

Cosmic gases began billowing outward as droves of Terran war cruisers broke through the cloud. Following in their wake were furious swarms of Lightningbirds. Many of these Terran fighters broke away, and blasted toward clusters of incoming Tho Yads. Warmaster Macua Huitl took a spare moment to watch the opposing forces meet. The quicker Terran fighters fired only bolts of red fire from their four weapons pods. While the more maneuverable Tho Yads' weapons were slightly more versatile. Each of the two forward-swept wings sported a glowing golden-orange orb near the middle. The orb could either shoot out up to two sets of energy bolts, or one continuous beam.

Macua could feel the Force trembling on a metaphysical level, as people who claimed to serve it continued to murder each other. He suppressed a disgusted sigh and brought his full attention to the larger battle.

Terran war cruisers were surging forward, absorbing massive amounts of energy into their forward deflector shields. How were they standing up so... Suspecting the flank and rear shields were on low power the Warmaster ordered all available Tho Yads to attack those particular war cruisers. The golden Celestial fighters drew ever closer and began blasting away with pairs of sunbeams, getting through the relatively weak shields. Those targeted war cruisers suddenly shut off their propulsion and beam weapons; the flank batteries mutely shrieked to life, shredding through droves of Tho Yads, before again going silent.

Macua Huitl should have known it was a trap. He hadn't known that Terran vessels could redistributed energy so rapidly. He became worried as a number of heavily damaged Terran war cruisers shot forward, ahead of the others. The Warmaster prioritized their destruction; he couldn't be sure what they were trying to do. One of the war cruisers was blasted to bits, but the rest of its comrades continued forward as though unphased. Those war cruisers began turning sideways, placing their flanks right in the firing paths of a number of Tho Yors, near the middle of his fleet. The war cruisers' shields were on high power, but their weapons batteries and beam weapons remained silent. Then their engines flared just as their shields shut off. The war cruisers dragged debris in front of many of the Tho Yors as they were torn to shreds. These Tho Yors' deflector shields rippled under the impact of the crystalline shrapnel.

Many of the Terran war cruisers were already unleashing large red streams of energy from their beam weapons, in threes, fours, or fives, on the Tho Yors as those sacrificial war cruisers exploded. Three Tho Yors detonated within the first minute of this. A cloud of spare Lightningbirds moved in on the Celestial vessels like hungry bloodflies. Some managed to slip under damaged deflector shields like bladefish slipping beneath skin. Macua Huitl considered those breached Tho Yors to be effectively lost.

The Tho Yors and Tho Yens at the top and bottom of the Warmaster's fleet continued to fire on the Terran war cruisers, while the ships in the middle focused mostly on breaking up the debris field. The war cruisers' flank weapons came back to life, being much more effective at closer range.

The Warmaster's fleet began to surround the enemy, like a jellyfish surrounding its prey. The Terran vessels respond by running more power to their deflector shields and flank weapons. Macua Huitl considered ordering some of his forces onward, to come behind the war cruisers' engines and disable them. But what if it was a trap? Perhaps there were more Terran vessels still waiting in the cloud. Waiting for Macua's ships to take the bait...

He honestly wasn't sure, and thus did not give the order. The Terrans would be wiped out soon enough; Supreme Warmaster Shotel Za would make certain of it. There was no need to take unnecessary risks, and give the Terrans a fighting chance. But was that truly why he couldn't bring himself to give the order?

Capital ships and fighters on both sides were being destroyed. Terran war cruisers continued to plow through golden-orange fire and began making their way into the Celestial ranks. Dying war cruisers attempted to crash into some of the Tho Yors, and occasionally succeeded. One of the Terran was cruisers seemed to stretch out, but stopped and snapped back on itself, before exploding. A Tho Yen succumbed to the blast and the deflector shields of three nearby Tho Yors shook angrily. A single Terran war cruiser moved in to batter the weakened deflector shields. One of the damaged Tho Yors tried to move out of the way only to be torn apart by a Terran beam weapon. The remaining pair of Tho Yors soon fell. Terran war cruisers and Lightningbirds began slipping through the High Warmaster's clutches and into hyperspace. Some of the Terran vessels were unable to escape, and launched themselves like missiles at Macua Huitl's forces. Fortunately only a couple of these bids were successful. The remaining enemy vessels were quickly dispatched.

Debris from both sides of the conflict drifted dead in space. And mixed together. No one had won this conflict. Macua Huitl knew it was his fault that his fleet hadn't won. There hadn't been anymore Terran war cruisers hiding in that cloud, or they'd have surely come to their comrades' aid; they couldn't afford not to. Macua felt like a traitor for what he'd just done. But there was also a part of him that felt strangely good about the... mercy he'd shown the Terrans. Macua sighed. He wasn't used to feeling so conflicted; he had to get his feelings sorted out before the next battle.


	15. Chapter 15

_**Minotaur**_

Much of Sebastian's body had gone numb. Though not his forehead and temples, which were under attack by a migraine. From dehydration, most likely. He was terribly thirsty; his mouth was dry, and his lips seemed to sort of stick to his teeth. He felt himself dozing off, and thought to stay... Another jolt. Having long since grown too exhausted to scream, all he could manage was a weak moan. He couldn't keep going through this. But all he could do was wait. Wait for death...

A small beam of light stabbed into the box. Sebastian had grown so accustomed to the darkness that it burned his eyes, and he was forced to close them. As he blinked to acclimate his eyes, he noticed the beam getting larger. It dawned on him that the box was being opened.

"It's your lucky day, sleemo," said a gruff voice. "Good ol' Lessy's makin' us hand ya over to Gatter-wimp." Sebastian couldn't believe he was getting out of here, and feared he was being lied to. Whatever the case, he took advantage of the opportunity to sit up and stretch out his back. His wrists stung as the binders were removed. A pair of strong hands roughly hauled him to his feet...

 _ **Void Demon**_

It was so very true that one's eyes were the windows to one's soul. The haunted expression in Sebastian Darklighter's eyes made it clear that he'd gone through a horrific experience. Although the young man was, essentially, an enemy combatant Moff Zedekiah Gatterweld still could not help but feel sorry for him. The poor kid had recently lost three family members, and even more recently had been crammed into a small box for a couple days. Sebastian's physical injuries had been healed during a brief stint in a bacta tank. But his emotional wounds would never completely heal. Zedekiah could feel Sebastian's trauma in the Force. The two men sat on a pair of equipment crates on the flight deck. Zedekiah figured Sebastian would appreciate spending time in such a large space.

Moff Lecersen had played his part brilliantly. Zeus had already started planning yet another speech to condemn 'yet another heinous act by the Imperial terrorist Lecersen'. And Zedekiah was the righteous one who had saved the life of Sebastian Darklighter, son of the great Admiral Darklighter. _You're welcome._

It wouldn't be long now until Admiral Darklighter arrived, accompanied by a Jedi. A Force user would certainly be able to recognize that Zeus was a Terran. What a kerfuffle that would be. He stuffed his left hand into his pocket, and grasped the crystal within. The Terran man felt the Force flow into his body. He envisioned the skin on his face, neck, and hands completely losing its subtle blue hue. Saw his very dark green hair turn black. He imagined his internal organs and slightly protruding spine being human, his muscle and bone being weaker, and his tail not existing. Zeus thought back to when he'd surprised Darth Krayt with this ability a few days ago.

 _"You seem different," Darth Krayt told Zeus. "I sense a human before me."_

 _Zeus gave the Sith Lord a demented smile. "Thank you for noticing. I've spent quite a bit of time among a group called the Fallanasi, who were quite adept at creating such illusions."_

 _"I've not heard of them," Krayt admitted._

 _"Most have not," Zeus responded. "Perhaps we could test the illusion's effectiveness," he suggested._

 _"Of course," Krayt said. His brow furrowed slightly, in concentration, as he tried to get through Zeus' illusion. "I can sense a very subtle energy field around you, but that's all," he said a moment or so later._

 _"I can work with that," Zeus said. "The Jedi have surely become suspicious of me, always finding excuses, good ones really, not to meet face to face with them. Perhaps now I can set their minds at ease. Do you know if any of the Jedi could detect this energy field?"_

 _"Perhaps Skywalker," Krayt responded._

 _"I will request to meet with him," Zeus said. "Since the Jedi don't trust me, perhaps they'll send someone else. Someone less valuable."_

 _"Who certainly won't be able to divine your illusion."_

 _"Indeed. I'll just have to take care no one pats me on the back," Zeus said, sort of to himself. "Slightly protruding Terran spine and all."_

Zedekiah pulled his mind from the memory as a spark of light appeared in the distance, beyond the invisible magcon field. The spark instantly dimmed to a glint. Sebastian's relief flooded into the Force as the glint grew into the shape of a _Lambda_ -class shuttle. A few minutes later the ship was extending its landing gear, and alighting on the floor of the hangar bay.

Zedekiah pulled his left hand from his pocket, the crystal he held in his hand concealed by his Fallanasi illusion. He didn't need one of the Jedi to see him pulling his hand from his pocket; it had the potential of looking suspicious.

A gentle hiss came to life as the boarding ramp folded down. First out was a man with light, sandy colored hair and a pair of blue eyes. He appeared to be at least in his sixties. Skywalker. Zedekiah grimaced inwardly. _Perhaps Skywalker concluded I didn't want him to come, and therefore decided to come._ The Jedi Master rested his right hand on his lightsaber. He reached out in the Force, toward Zedekiah, but didn't focus on him too long. He then did a general outward sweep of their surroundings.

Zedekiah rose to greet Skywalker. Following along behind the Jedi, at a dignified jog, was Admiral Gavin Darklighter. "Hello, Master Skywalker. It's an honor to finally meet you." Zedekiah extended his right hand, and gave the Jedi a firm, friendly handshake.

"And it's an honor to meet you, Moff Gatterweld," Skywalker replied, still a bit suspicious.

"Hello, Admiral Darklighter," Zedekiah said, as he shook Gavin's hand.

"I can't thank you enough for saving my son, Moff Gatterweld," Darklighter said. He walked over to Sebastian, and embraced him. "You okay, Bass?"

"I dunno, dad."

"You will be." Gavin turned back toward Zedekiah, and shook his hand. "Thank you, sir."

"I could not allow this young man to suffer like that. And please, call me Zedekiah."

"Alright, Zedekiah. And I suppose you can call me Gavin."

"Certainly, Gavin. For some time, now, I've been working on a plan to eliminate Lecersen. The scumrot has, no doubt, been planning my elimination for a while, also. Once this business with the Celestials and the Terrans has wrapped up, and if nothing else crops up, I intend to implement my plan. Your Galactic Alliance is more than welcome to lend its support."

"You know we're in... Zedekiah," Gavin said, still holding his son.

"We'll do whatever we can to help," Skywalker added.

"I appreciate it, Gavin... Luke," Zedekiah said, with a pleasant smile. "Well, I'm sure you all have other matters to attend to, so I shall not keep you any longer."

"Thank you again, Zedekiah," Gavin said.

* * *

Sebastian became uneasy as he sat down on the bench seat. The shuttle didn't look this small from the outside. He felt like the walls might decide to close in on him. "I vaping hate boxes," he muttered His father placed a comforting hand on his shoulder as he sat down beside him.

"Well, that's all over, kid," Gavin reassured him.

"I can't do field work anymore. It's just...

"I know, Bass. No one's gonna make you do that, again." The older man was silent a moment, and sighed. "There's something else I want to talk to you about... before we get back to the _Dagger_. I've told you about Asyr Seilar."

"Yeah," Sebastian replied; he had no idea where this was going. "She died in that crash with that TIE."

"That's what I thought. She survived."

Sebastian frowned in confusion. "She survived..."

"She did. Are you familiar with Zorra Kel'yar?"

"She's that Bothan senator..." Sebastian's mouth fell slightly open. "That's Asyr?"

Gavin nodded. "I know this is all really sudden. She's been staying aboard the _Dagger_ , in my guest room."

"And you want to know if I'm okay with it..."

"If you're not..."

"Do you still love her?"

"I never stopped," Gavin said. "Things have been going to hell. And... having her around..."

"If you need her... don't let me keep you from her." This whole thing with his father's former fiance coming back from the dead and basically staying with him so soon after his wife, Sebastian's own mother, had been murdered sounded like one of those blasted soap operas. It honestly bothered him. But he just couldn't bring himself to tell his dad that; it would be cruel. "Just be careful."


	16. Chapter 16

**Korriban**

Encased in pale cortosis armor, Darth Plagueis' body sat cross legged upon the floor of the Sith Meditation Sphere. But the undead Sith Lord's spirit was elsewhere. Untethered from his body, his consciousness floated through space and time. (more?) A particularly strong current took hold of him, and he was violently pulled onward toward a great whirlpool. He fell in and descended into darkness.

There before him lay Kesh, jewel of the growing Sith Empire. Floating near the planet were hundreds of vessels of all different types. But instead of being gathered around various closely grouped exit vectors, the fleet was scattered about in utter disarray. Plagues' perception moved toward the ships. What remained of them, that was. The Sith vessels hung lifeless in the void. Some smoldered with dying red embers, while others were just massive hunks of melted alloy. The Sith Lord's gaze searched through the area. And there it was. A brief glimpse of gold. The Celestials had done this.

Gravely concerned, Darth Plagueis pulled out his comlink. "It appears the Celestials have located Kesh."

"They're going to attack," Darth Krayt said, a sense of alarm burning through the Force. "Even if we fend them off..."

"Kesh has still been exposed," Plagueis finished. "I'm going there to coordinate our capital's defense. Contact Kesh and tell them to prepare an evacuation, and that I'm coming."

"I will," Krayt said. "May the dark side be with you."

"May it be with us all," Plagueis responded.

 **Kesh**

Two hundred ninety six ships from Darth Plagueis' Sith fleet hung in the void of space by the planet-ward side of the most expedient entry vector to Kesh. Once again Plagueis was seated inside the Sith Meditation Sphere. The ancient vessel floated roughly a meter above the flight deck of the _Darth Sidious_. Plagueis' mind was projected outward to the crews of the capital ships, and the pilots of hundreds of assorted fighters from several different eras.

Massive sparks appeared to erupt from empty space. A sense of danger spread through Plagueis' ectoplasmic form. And knowing the Celestials had to be arriving, he compelled his Sith fleet to immediately open fire, before most of the starbursts had enough time to coalesce into golden, monolithic vessels. About a third of the ships were Tho Yors, while the rest were Tho Yens. Tho Yads swarmed out, and were quickly met by Sith fighters.

Darth Plagueis proceeded to spread his fleet out in order to surround the enemy, or at least to create the illusion of it. The more maneuverable Celestial forces began to spread out, slowly assuming a bowl-like formation to surround the Sith fleet. Darth Plagueis reached out in the Force just a little further. Seconds later a few hundred starbursts appeared on the other side of the Celestial fleet. The rest of the Sith fleet had arrived, and now the enemy was surrounded. Golden-orange raged against green, red, and blue. Plagueis could feel it now; a great blow was about to be struck...

A sense of dread fell upon the Sith Lord as he sensed it. Something that didn't belong here. An abomination which should never have existed to begin with. Through the battle meditation, Plagueis silently ordered his fleet to pull away from the Celestial vessels. Swarms of fighters pealed away. The much larger capital ships did their best to escape.

The Aether.

The demonic evil came from the Celestial fleet in the form of torpedoes. The ordnance began crashing into the Sith fleet's deflector shields. The torpedoes began to disintegrate, releasing a darkly glowing green... mist. It fell upon the deflector shields like spores, causing violent eruptions of sparks. Ragged holes began opening up. Spores floated through to the ships' exposed hulls; the alloy seemed to rust and start crumbling. Darth Plagueis could sense thousands of people losing their lives as the ships detonated or from decompression caused by innumerable hull breaches. Fortunately the _Sidious_ had not been on the front lines. It was most important that Plagueis himself escaped.

The Aether struck again a couple minutes later as the _Sidious_ continued to crawl away from Kesh's gravity well. The planet's own gravity brought this green damnation down upon it. Hundreds of thousands, millions likely, would die there. Darth Plagueis reached out toward Darth Wyyrlok, and was dismay to find such a valuable asset was still on the planet. The Chagrian Sith Lord was reaching out toward his daughter Niera on Korriban to say goodbye one last time.

The undead Sith Lord uttered a particularly profane Muun curse, something he rarely did. The Celestials, dark side condemn them, had baited him horribly with their golden lure. Plagueis doubted they'd known about the other half of his fleet, but had known there could be more Sith ships. He knew the Jedi would not tolerate what the Celestials had done here. Not even Darth Plagueis would use the Aether to eradicate the Jedi.

 _ **Turk Brand**_

Luke Skywalker had felt Irisia's humiliation as she was removed from the bacta tank. The guards he'd sensed around her had seemed to care nothing for her dignity. He hated that there could be people like that in the Galactic Alliance, and serving in the military no less. Yes, Irisia may have been an enemy combatant, but she was also a person. He would have gotten her out himself, had he not asked her to betray her own people. Luke knew she was hurting; he had to do... something.

He found Irisia sitting on her cot in a small gray jail cell, wearing a set of impersonal red prison clothes that said she was a highly dangerous prisoner. Her tail was curved around her, to her right, and rested on her lap. She just stared at the stump where the stinger had been. Luke quietly stood there, by the energy field of her cell, for a moment.

Irisia finally seemed to notice him. "What do you want?" she asked wearily.

Luke took a deep breath. He needed to allow himself to be vulnerable with her. "I just... needed to see you."

"And your right to see me is more important than my right to have you stay the Styx away from me?" Irisia countered.

"If you want me to leave, I'll leave. I should never have asked you to do what I asked you to do."

"Then why did you?"

"Every single woman I've ever been in love with has died, one way or another. There's a good chance you'll be executed. I don't want to lose you." Luke found himself wiping at his eyes.

Something in Irisia softened. The Terran woman got up and walked over to the energy barrier, and sat down. Luke sat down on the other side of the field. Irisia glanced at his right hand. "Just got it a few hours ago," Luke said. He glanced at the energy field, and than at his left hand. A thin, almost invisible, field of electricity wrapped itself around his hand. He felt a sense of alarm from Irisia as he touched his fingers to the field. "It's okay, sweetie," Luke assured her. "I know what I'm doing... for once." That last bit got the tiniest smile from her. Luke slowly pushed his hand through the field. It was just a little bit painful, but he didn't care. He brought his hand to her face, and gently stroked her cheek. He grimaced as the field began to burn his arm, and quickly pulled it out.

Irisia's gratefulness at that brief contact flowed into the Force. "I doubt anyone else here even wants to look at me, never mind touch..."

Her next words were lost on Luke as he felt a ragged hole being torn in the fabric of the Force. His heart seemed to slam itself against his rib cage. The Aether. He'd felt this evil before, aboard that Nephilim carrier ship, but hadn't been nearly this powerful. The Nephilim had merely existed in the Aether. Whereas what Luke had just felt, and could still feel, was the active use of this entity's power, as one would use the Force.

Tens of thousands, and then hundreds of thousands, of lives being extinguished. Perhaps more. He sensed the dark side among them. It must have the Lost Tribe of the Sith. The world of Kesh had just been murdered.

"Luke!" said Irisia's panicked voice.

"I'm... okay," he managed, trying to catch his breath. He fished out his comlink, and raised Admiral Bwua'tu.

"Master Skywalker?" the Bothan man asked.

"Yeah," he breathed. "It's the Aether." Irisia's expression became alarmed.

"What about it?" Bwua'tu not quite demanded.

"Someone just used it to attack Kesh."

"I see," Bwua'tu said. "Are we dealing with an... Aether-sensitive?"

Luke cast a glance back toward Irisia. The Terran woman nodded slowly. "Irisia and myself believe so."

"I find it very disturbing that all this Aether stuff... Hold on, I've got a call coming."

"There's been quite a bit of evil done in this galaxy in the last few decades," Irisia told Luke. "The Aether is drawn to it. It was only a matter of time before something like this happened."

"It's High Warmaster Macua Huitl," Admiral Bwua'tu returned a moment or so later. "He wishes to speak with myself and you, Luke."

Luke turned toward Irisia, "I have to go," he said, standing up. "I'll be back as soon as I can."

Irisia watched him go, anxious for him to return, and wondering what this recent news would mean for her.

Luke returned a few minutes later. The cell's containment field became visible as it flickered, and then shut down.

"They're letting you go," Luke said.

Irisia left the cell and walked over to him, feeling a weight leave her shoulders. "Thank you, Luke."

"Admiral Bwua'tu made the decision, and I agreed with him. A lot has changed. Bwua'tu and... Macua Huitl want to meet you."

"A Nibu wants to speak with me?"

"About an alliance."

"Well, that's a first." Irisia found it hard to believe, but she trusted Luke.

"Here's your weapon. You're going to feel that the Aether has done something when you regain the Force."

"I'd imagine so." She took her weapon back. A shiver exploded through her body as she felt the wound in the Force. She placed a hand on the wall to steady herself. She looked back at Luke. "This is not good."

"That's pretty much what Macua Huitl said," Luke commented.

"I'm ready to speak with him," Irisia said.

"Alright," Luke said with a nod. "We're going to the ops room." A few minute later the two were stepping into the ops room. Admiral Bwua'tu sat in a chair, while the much taller Nibu man was in a crouching position. Luke and Irisia sat down to either side of the Admiral.

"Grand Admiral Irisia," Macua Huitl greeted.

"High Warmaster."

"I can see that you've sensed what's happened." Irisia nodded. "I suspect Supreme Warmaster Shotel Za was behind it."

"Styx," Irisia said, surprised. "Your people used the Aether."

"There was a brilliant Nibu scientist named Mortis. He was studying the Aether as a power source. It eventually became clear that this Aether was dangerous. People nearby his laboratory starting becoming violent, and few of these people committed violent murders. Mortis also somehow managed to open a portal to another dimension. A monstrous super-organism we call the mnggal-mnggal made it through before we could close it. By now it's mostly eradicated.

"Studying the Aether became banned under pain of death. But we soon realized that Mortis had continued to study it in secret. Shotel Za was sent to execute him. And whatever it was he encountered there changed him. He refuses to talk about it, so no one has pressed it. Mortis had used the Aether to create a substance we call the Green Death. It reacts violently with almost anything, especially something that exists in the Force. It was supposed to have been destroyed, sent aboard a freighter programmed to fly into a black hole. I know for a fact that that ship reached its destination. I suspect none of the Green Death was in there. Shotel Za must have kept it."

"And then used it at Kesh. The Aether will try to gain a foothold," Irisia said. "Doesn't Za know this?"

"He does, yet he used it anyway," Warmaster Huitl said. "Shotel Za can reckless at times, and he became more reckless after his encounter with Mortis. This time he's gone too far. He may have intended what he did for good. But no good can from pure evil." He sighed. "He and his supporters must be eliminated."

"I don't envy you," Irisia said softly. "This will force our species to work together, and perhaps end the war. The Force may have allowed Za to use the Aether to that end."

"Interesting. If this war were to continue it would likely do more damage than what the Force allowed Za to do," Macua Huitl mused.

"I believe so," Irisia agreed. Luke nodded.

"Lose a battle in order to win a war," Admiral Bwua'tu murmured.

"I'm certain Shotel Za and his supporters, unbeknownst to everyone else, intended to use the Green Death when our people first returned to this galaxy. Shotel Za would have waited until his enemy was close before using the weapon. The opposing ships would have boxed each other in, leaving no escape."

Luke turned to Irisia, and sighed. "The Force knew this... It told me to betray you...r people. With all his new allies being mixed in with the Terrans, using the Green Death was no longer an option."

"Such an act would have been very controversial, and could have led to civil war," Macua Huitl explained. "He did not hold off on using the weapon out of the goodness of his heart."

Irisia nodded and turned to Luke. "You weren't betraying my people; you were obeying the Force," she said slowly.

"That's a good way to put it," Luke commented. "Needless to say, my vision of those Aether eyes had nothing to do with Gatterweld. He seems like a good guy. The vision was clearly about Shotel Za, so we definitely need to take him out."

Irisia stepped closer to Macua Huitl, and extended her right hand. The Nibu took hers, and they shook hands. "I never wanted to wipe out your people. In my last confrontation I actually let many of your people go, of course it wouldn't have been apparent that I'd done so. I had the feeling it was the right thing to do. I've just begun to realize how right."

"Thank you, Macua Huitl," Irisia said.


	17. Chapter 17

_**Tharsis**_

"The Celestials were responsible for this attack," Zeus' hologram said grimly. "Darth Plagueis said, and I fully agree, that the Jedi will be outraged by this." To his right sat Kronos and then Siffia. As a systems officer the young woman held a very low rank, but her brilliance in coding resulted in her being treated as though her rank were much higher. Which was why she'd been allowed to sit in on important meetings, such as this one.

Sitting at the other side of the table was the newly reinstated Grand Admiral, a woman named Eta Carinae. She had orange, shoulder length hair, which was rather short for a Terran woman. Her eyes were a deep red. She was probably twenty or so years younger than Kronos, judging by the noticeable, yet subtle, wrinkles on her face.

Kronos had told Siffia very little about this woman. But based on the fact that Kronos seemed to hate the mere mention of her name, Siffia assumed they had some history together that he wanted to forget. Eta Carinae had been the Grand Admiral once before. She'd lost the position to Irisia some time before Siffia had been born. According to Kronos, Carinae tended to be unnecessarily violent. Siffia didn't like the woman, either. Though she suspected much of her resentment toward the woman stemmed from the simple fact that she wasn't Irisia.

"Then the Jedi will go back over to our side and, by extension, the Galactic Alliance," said Carinae. "So once again it appears that galaxy will be with us. I believe Fate has given us a chance to save our species."

For some reason, Siffia found the admiral's use of the word 'Fate' to be oddly unnerving. It was the Force that had provided this opportunity...

She lost her train of thought as her weapon began vibrating. She frowned. Why would someone be calling her? She placed it on the table and gently brushed one of its three curling fingers. Irisia's face suddenly appeared in the air above the staff weapon. "Ris," Siffia managed, barely able to keep a wave of emotion under control. "I thought you..." she lost her voice.

Siffia noticed that Zeus' hologram was gone. Neither Carinae nor Kronos said anything to Irisia about Zeus. Did they not want her to know about Zeus? This worried Siffia; she'd have to tell Irisia about it later.

"I'm okay, kid," Irisia said. "I'll explain it all later." She glanced at Kronos, who held up Phaeton's weapon. Irisia then glanced at Eta Carinae, and all expression left her face.

"Shotel Za, the Supreme Nibu Warmaster was responsible for this attack I'm sure all of you felt," Irisia said. "Za did it to wipe out Kesh." She wouldn't know about the Sith fleet. Siffia began to wonder just how far the Terrans' alliance with the Sith went. Simply working with them to eliminate a common enemy was fine, but did they share the Sith's ideology? Styx!

"High Warmaster Macua Huitl was just as alarmed as the Jedi, and believes Za must be eliminated," Irisia went on. "He's speaking with his fellow High Warmaster Tosi Karu on the matter as we speak. Warmaster Huitl and Admiral Bwua'tu will want to meet with you... Admiral," Irisia said, grounding that last word out.

"Grand Admiral," Carinae corrected.

"Of course, my mistake," Irisia said, clearly holding back some insult.

"You are still an irreplaceable member of our military," Carinae assured her. "We do need more than one admiral."

"Thank you, Grand Admiral. The _Olympus Mons_ was taken from the inside, and left largely intact. I will need people to repair it."

"I'll be happy to send them, along with Siffia," Eta Carinae said. Siffia was beyond relieved to hear that.

"That would be a great help... Grand Admiral."

"I only want what's best for our people," Carinae responded.

"As do I," Irisia agreed. "Luke Skywalker somehow managed to sneak a group of Nibu soldiers onto the _Olympus Mons_. Skywalker was about to kill me but..." Irisia sighed, "he couldn't do it because he... loves me. One of the Nibu soldiers offered to kill me. But Skywalker killed him before that could happen." Siffia felt a strange flicker of interest from Carinae at that. The jade haired girl wasn't sure what meant, but it was concerning. One more thing she'd have to tell Irisia... The young woman could feel Carinae's crimson eyes on her. Burning Hades. Siffia suddenly knew Carinae wouldn't let her tell Irisia anything.

"Will that be all?" Eta Carinae asked.

"I believe so," Irisia said. "I'll see you soon, Sif."

"Goodbye, Ris," Siffia responded, hoping it wouldn't be permanent. Irisia's image vanished. Siffia grabbed her weapon and stood up. "If I'm no longer needed here, I think I'll head back to my quarters," she said, trying not to sound nervous, but knowing she did.

"Not just yet," Carinae said. Siffia reached out to Kronos, who sent back a sense of reassurance. "You can't tell Irisia how closely we're working with the Sith. She would tell Master Skywalker; she does owe him her life for not killing her. You and Irisia have become very close, and you wouldn't be able to keep yourself from telling her."

"What are you saying?" the young woman asked.

"Relax, Siffia," Kronos soothed. "You know I would never do anything to hurt you. And I would never let anyone hurt you. But you need to forget certain things-"

"I just had my memory altered a few days ago; I could suffer permanent brain damage...," Siffia protested. It could even leave her brain dead.

"There is another option," Carinae warned. "You know about Zeus, and our alliance with the Sith."

"The Sith are evil," Siffia protested.

"I don't deny that," Kronos allowed. "But this galaxy needs order. The Jedi will never be willing to do what's necessary to maintain order. The Sith are willing. You know about the evil that will someday come to this galaxy. Under the rule of the Sith the galaxy will be equipped to face it." He reached a hand toward Siffia's shoulder.

"Don't touch me," the jade-haired girl said harshly.

"Alright, but you-"

"I know," Siffia muttered. "I'll do what you want."

"Thank you. It's in your best interest." He held out his hand. "I'll be needing your weapon. I'll return it to you later." Siffia sighed and did as she was told. _Go to Hades!_

Siffia reluctantly followed Kronos down softly glowing pink-orange hallways that suddenly looked lifeless to her. After several long minutes they came to a room with a few dozen chairs inside. Behind the nearest chair were several monitors arrayed in a semicircle. A pair of technicians stood by the doorway. It seemed that everything had already been set up.

The girl got into the chair and a medic injected a sedative into her arm. She felt her hair being pushed against her scalp as a bowl shaped object, attached to an armature, was placed over...

Her head was throbbing terribly when she woke up. Her temples and forehead felt like they were burning. She couldn't keep her eyes open because the light hurt them. She was crying from the pain. "Turn the lighting down," whispered an old man's voice. "I'm right here, child," said that same voice, as the man placed a gentle hand on her shoulder. She felt the tiny sting of a needle going into her arm. "You'll feel better soon, Siffia." Kronos. That was his name. For some strange reason, he made her very uncomfortable.


	18. Chapter 18

**_Errant Venture_** **: orbiting Nibiru**

Jaina sat on the couch in the _Millennium Falcon_ 's main living area. Jag was beside her with an arm around her shoulders. Their daughter, Mara, was sitting on her lap. The girl was traumatized by what had just happened, her face pale with shock. Jaina was shaken up, too. The Anti-Force had begun to truly move. "It's okay, baby," Jaina assured her daughter.

"Are you sure?" Mara asked, looking up at her mother with a doubtful expression.

Jaina sighed. "No," she admitted, "I'm not sure. I was just... trying to make you feel safer."

"I think I'm too grown up for that to work anymore," Mara decided.

"Yeah, I think so, too " Jaina agreed, wishing her daughter didn't have to grow up so quickly.

"What just happened?" a concerned Jag asked.

"The Aether. It... did something," Jaina told her husband.

"Something really awful, I take it."

"Yeah. But simply feeling it, without it really doing anything, is awful. This was... You remember the Vong."

"Unfortunately."

"What I felt made them seem like whisperkits," Jaina said.

Jag hugged her, and patted Mara's knee. "We'll be okay, love," he told their daughter. "Nibiru is the safest place in the galaxy right now."

Jaina frowned as a well controlled sense of alarm begin to spread throughout the _Venture_ 's bridge. The small Jedi Master could feel the Star Destroyer start moving. The fact that she could actually feel the mile long ship turning, meant it had to be accelerating quickly.

"What's going on?" Mara asked.

Jaina sighed. "I'm not sure, baby. But I have a bad feeling that this is related to that Anti-Force thing." Neither the Jedi nor their allies would willingly bring the _Errant Venture_ , with so many Jedi younglings aboard, into a combat situation. So they must have been leaving because Nibiru was no longer safe.

Jaina could sense a worried Corran approaching the _Falcon_. Footfalls sounded as the current Jedi Grand Master stomped up the boarding ramp, which had been left down. He entered the living area, his face grim. "Corran, what's going on?"

"Admiral Kre'fey just contacted us. Bwua'tu just told him to pull us out," Corran explained.

Jaina frowned. "Did Bwua'tu say why?"

"No," Corran shook his head. "But it has to have something to do with that Aether attack. What has me really concerned is that Bwua'tu didn't tell Kre'fey why. I think Bwua'tu didn't want the Celestials to know the reason we're leaving."

Jaina felt a chill spread from her chest. "If he doesn't want the Celestials to know... Corran, are you saying they did this?"

Corran sighed. "I'm saying that that's the only explanation I can think of."

Jaina noticed her daughter rolling her eyes. "So in other words," Mara said, "you're saying the Celestials were responsible for that thing with the Anti-Force."

"Yeah," Corran admitted, "pretty much."

"We're not safe here, are we?" Mara commented.

"Sorry, Mara," Jag said softly.

"It's okay, dad." She looked up at Jaina. "So if the Celestials are the, uh... 'bad guys' now, does that mean the Terrans are the 'good guys' again?"

"Good question," Corran said. "I'd say there are probably good guys and bad guys on both sides. But if the Celestials really did do this, then... we might have to fight alongside the Terrans again."

"I wish neither of these peoples had come here," Mara commented.

"I know what you mean, kid," Corran responded. "Well the good news is we just entered hyperspace."

 _ **Turk Brand**_

Irisia and Luke Skywalker sat to the right and left, respectively, of Admiral Bwua'tu, at the oblong table in the ops room. The furry Bothan man acted as a sort of buffer between Irisia and Skywalker, which the Terran woman greatly appreciated. Irisia had been able to forgive him for turning on her people; he'd been obedient to the Force, and the act had actually saved her people from extinction, at least temporarily. She had even forgiven him for sneaking aboard the _Olympus Mons_ with a group of Celestial soldiers; Skywalker had been defending himself, and his _own_ people. But she could not forgive him for murdering Daedalus. Skywalker had not been serving the Force then; he had been serving himself, as a Sith would do. And yet Irisia had been grateful for his company when she had been trapped in that cell. She had thought that she might die, and had simply wanted someone, anyone, to comfort her.

Macua Huitl sat on a small crate, to Irisia's right, at one rounded end of the oblong table. The Terran woman did not miss the irony that she was on better terms with a Celestial, a mortal enemy of her species, than a man she had thought she had loved...

A holographic rendering of High Warmaster Tosi Karu appeared to Macua Huitl's right. Her likeness had clearly been shrunk down, as she was the height of a human. She had pale brown eyes and pale brown hair. Moff Gatterweld appeared next. Followed by Hapan Queen Mother Athena. For some strange reason Irisia almost felt like she recognized the woman.

Next was the orange-haired, red-eyed Grand Admiral Eta Carinae, whom Irisia wished she did not recognize. Moff Lecersen appeared a short moment later, looking very tense. He must have experienced some sort of setback

A quick round of introductions was made, after which Admiral Bwua'tu began to speak. "As some of you already know Kesh was recently attacked by an Aether weapon, some sort of torpedoes, most likely."

"We have concluded that our Supreme Warmaster, Shotel Za was behind this," High Warmaster Macua Huitl added, somberly. "In short, thousands of years ago he was tasked with destroying a payload of an Aether-created material called the Green Death. Shotel Za apparently kept it for his own use."

"We intend to launch an attack on Nibiru," Bwua'tu took over. "I've ordered my people and the Jedi away from there. They're en route to Kuat as we speak."

The space above the center of the table lit up, with a holographic representation of the Chiloon Rift. This time there was a new planet. "This is our homeworld of Nibiru," Huitl said, gesturing at the golden planet. "I suspect that Za has promoted his adviser, Atlatl, to High Warmaster. Shotel Za and Atlatl will likely each command roughly half of the enemy armada. We should expect heavy losses from the Aether torpedoes, but once they've been used up we should be able to come close to wiping out their forces. We'll keep a defensive force at Kuat in case any of Za's forces escape at Nibiru."

"The _Olympus Mons_ should be ready for battle by the time any of Za's surviving forces reach Kuat," Eta Carinae said. "Irisia can help coordinate the world's defense."

"Along with General Hiroyuki Niathal," Bwua'tu added with a nod.

Moff Lecersen cleared his throat. "The Sith had a fleet under construction at Kesh. Shotel Za somehow found us. He allowed the Sith fleet to surround his fleet before launching a number of those Aether torpedoes. We lost over half our fleet." None of this surprised Irisia. But what exactly did Lecersen mean by 'over half'? Fifty ships could have escaped, while fifty one were destroyed. "Our ships were packed too close together to take evasive action, so we'll have to space our ships out a bit."

"A good point," Bwua'tu said. "Any ships you could bring along would be appreciated." He must have suspected the same thing Irisia did about the Sith fleet.

"Darth Plagueis will coordinate my forces. And the forces of anyone else who agrees to it," Lecersen offered.

"I will take that under advisement," Bwua'tu said. Irisia knew enough about the Sith to know they would use this to deliver a blow to the Jedi and the Alliance if they saw an opportunity.

The meeting went on a while longer, with people discussing their various assets and how best to arrange said assets. Nibu High Warmasters Huitl and Karu went over what sort of tactics to expect from the Supreme Warmaster. The two Celestials, along with everyone else present, also suggested various counter tactics.

 _ **Olympus Mons**_

The Celestials had murdered Irisia's entire crew, save for those who had been able to escape in their fighters. She understood that the Celestials had simply been killing those who had sought to kill them; that was simply a part of war. But those devils had not even left the bodies, to allow the fallen to be honored. Though the Celestials certainly would not have expected any surviving Terrans to be here to honor them. The dead would simply have been disposed of as though they were filth.

"I'm so sorry," Luke said softly, as he joined Irisia's on the _Olympus Mons_ ' bridge. She could feel his guilt in the Force. He was apologizing not just for what the Celestials had, but also for what he had done. But why the Styx should she care how he felt? Irisia knew why. How was it that the only person she had ever truly been interested in was the one to hurt her more than anyone else had?

Luke walked over to one of the terminals, while Irisia went to another, both with a circuitry etcher. "Wearing the armor of a close friend who has fallen is a way of honoring them." Irisia told Luke, somewhat absently. "That can't happen now."

"I'm sorry," Luke said as the two began creating alternate pathways through the _Mons_ ' damaged computers.

Irisia wondered how many times he would apologize to her. "It wasn't your fault," she assured him.

"It was, in a way," Luke calmly insisted as they began placing small color-coded stickers, ranging from green to yellow to red based on the severity of the damage, on areas that the etchers could not adequately repair. At his suggestion, Irisia had allowed Luke to bring whatever Jedi his order could spare to the _Olympus Mons_ to help with repairs in whatever way they could. Force sensitivity was required in order to truly understand how well different areas of the ship were, or were not, functioning.

There were just a few terminals left to look over when Irisia felt a number of Terran life forces and their Lightningbirds exit hyperspace. "The repair crew is arriving," Irisia told Luke. She reached out toward Siffia, and was relieved when the girl reached back to her. But something was wrong; she was hurt and confused.

"Are you alright?" Luke asked, apparently sensing Irisia's concern.

"It's not myself I'm worried about," Irisia explained. "One of these people has become like a daughter to me, and something happened to her."

There was a brief surge of emotion from Luke. "I hope she'll be alright," he said.

Siffia had to be alright; Irisia could not lose another daughter. "I'll take you to her; I'm sure she'll be glad to meet the man who... spared my life." The purple-haired Terran woman headed to the hangar bay, with Luke following quietly behind. The two reached the flight deck just as the first couple dozen or so Lightningbirds were landing. Irisia felt Siffia's presence in one of the Lightningbirds, and lead Luke over to the craft. She should not have wanted him anywhere near her, but...

A small young woman with jade colored hair climbed out of the Terran fighter, and began slowly walking toward Irisia. The girl wore a disturbed expression on her face. Her jade armor, with gold and copper accents, had some minor dents and scratches, but nothing serious. Irisia walked over to Siffia and wrapped her arms around her, which was a bit cumbersome with the girl wearing her armor, and Irisia wearing what remained of hers. She kissed the top of Siffia's head. "Are you alright, Sif?" Irisia asked worriedly.

"I... don't know, Ris," the girl said. "Someone... altered my memory."

Irisia felt sick. Siffia's memory, along with that of most of the other Terrans, had been changed only days ago. Doing that twice in the same year was risky, but in the span of mere days... There could be permanent neurological damage. Irisia hugged Siffia again.

"Kronos was there when I woke up," Siffia went on, "and I was afraid of him. I think he had something to do with changing my memory."

Irisia was stunned that Kronos, of all people, would do such a thing. "That doesn't sound like him..."

"I know," Siffia said softly. "But why else would I be afraid of him?" That was rhetorical.

Irisia sighed. "He must not have seen a better option," she said slowly.

"He must have been doing something he didn't want me to know about."

"Because then you would have told me."

Siffia nodded, and glanced at Luke who stood nearby. "You must be Luke Skywalker."

"Guilty as charged," he responded with the faintest touch of humor.

"Thank you for not killing Irisia."

"You're welcome... sweetie."

"This is Siffia," Irisia said.

"Hi, Siffia," Luke said.

"I'm sure you overheard our conversation," Irisia told him.

"I did," Luke confessed. He turned to Siffia. "There are a couple Jedi healers that I could have take a look at you."

"I'd appreciate that," Irisia said. It was touching that this man seemed to care so much for her daughter.

Siffia nodded. "I should probably do that now."

"They're aboard the _Errant Venture_ ," Luke said.

"I wish I could go with you," Irisia said, "but-".

"It's okay, Ris," Siffia assured her. "I know you're needed here."

"I could go with her," Luke offered. Irisia turned toward him, mildly surprised. She knew he was not trying to win her back, he was simply doing what was right. Luke Skywalker was not the type of man to have ulterior motives.

Irisia turned back toward Siffia. "I wouldn't mind," the young woman said.

"Thank you for doing this, Luke," Irisia said.

"I'm glad to." Irisia hugged her daughter. Siffia and Luke headed to their respective fighters, and seconds later were passing through the _Olympus Mons_ ' magcon field. Irisia sighed; she had quite a bit of thinking to do.

 _ **Errant Venture**_

Siffia carefully climbed out of her Lightningbird. She was a bit dizzy, and felt a bit unsteady on her feet. The girl stumbled a bit, as her feet hit the gray-white flight deck of the Star Destroyer, but Luke Skywalker was somehow there to gently catch her arm. "Thank you," Siffia said tiredly.

"You're welcome." Luke seemed as worried about her as she was. Something was clearly wrong with her. Siffia was afraid of what these Jedi healers might find. But perhaps they could help her. "I'll take you to the medbay." She nodded, and followed silently behind the Jedi Master. He led the young woman through a series of colorless hallways, and took care not to outpace her.

The _Errant Venture_ was the first non-Terran ship Siffia had ever set foot on, as far as she knew. Like just about all ships from this galaxy the gray Star Destroyer was made mostly of metal and was not the least bit alive in the Force.

After a few minutes the pair came to a room just as dull as the rest of the ship. A woman who somewhat resembled a fish walked toward her. Her head was large and bulbous, with a pair of protruding yellow eyes. "Hello, Siffia. I am Cilghal," she said, extending a webbed hand.

"Hi," Siffia said, awkwardly shaking the woman's hand. She had never greeted someone in that manner. The girl realized she was staring at the strange-looking woman...

"You have never met a Mon Calamari before, have you?" Cilghal asked. She seemed mildly amused.

"No," Siffia admitted. "It's obvious isn't it."

Cilghal nodded. "You'll probably have to be here awhile, so you can feel free to remove your armor." Siffia slowly removed her armor, and placed it in a pile in a nearby corner, with her gloves on top. The Mon Calamari turned a chair toward the girl, and she sat down. "I'll need to take your staff weapon..." Siffia tensed up slightly, and Cilghal's next words were lost on her. The fish-like woman gently touched the jade-haired girl's shoulder. "Siffia?" she asked softly.

"Sorry," she apologized. "I think something bad must have happened to me the last time someone asked me for my weapon."

"Maybe before your memory was wiped?" Luke suggested.

"That's standard procedure," Siffia agreed. "The technicians don't want people... using the Force during alterations." She turned toward Cilghal. "You needed my weapon."

The Mon Cal nodded. "I need to see how you do without it. That can help tell me what's going on, and perhaps how to help you."

"I'm having trouble functioning already," Siffia responded. "Without it I might pass out."

Cilghal nodded her large head. "I'll be monitoring you carefully; if something happens I can get you in contact with your weapon right away."

"Alright," Siffia said. Cilghal reached for the weapon holster on her leg. The Jedi healer slowly pulled the weapon out, and set it on a nearby table. After a minute or so Siffia could feel the Force begin to fade. And then she began to feel heavy. Her heart seemed to pound in her head, and her vision became blurry.

"I see you're still conscious," Cilghal said.

"Yes,' Siffia managed weakly. She could feel a pair of hands moving about on her head. She was not sure how long it took, but Cilghal eventually stopped. The Mon Cal woman placed the weapon back in its holster, and Siffia instantly felt better. But she also felt Cilghal's and Luke's concern.

"There's some extensive brain damage," Cilghal said.

"Can it get better?" Siffia asked, nearly interrupted the healer.

"It might," Cilghal said. "Going into a healing trance should help, and I may be able to repair some of the damage, too. The extend of the damage will be hard to determine until you try to do a bit more."

"Such as code-writing or combat related... things?"

"Yes," Cilghal said. "Those things will likely be effected." That wasn't what Siffia had wanted to hear, but should not have been surprising. Kronos had done this to her. He had been like a grandfather to her, and he had betrayed her. "I'm sorry, Siffia."

"So am I," Luke said, gently patting her hand.

"I guess I'll go into that healing trance, then," Siffia said. "Thank you for trying help me.'

"You're welcome, kid," Luke said. Siffia closed her eyes and reached deeply into the Force. She pulled the Force around and into herself...

Siffia found herself sitting in that same chair, after what seemed like a mere instant later. Luke and Cilghal sat across from her; the human looked troubled, but the young woman couldn't read the Mon Calamari's expression. "How bad is it?" she asked, reluctantly.

"It's difficult to be completely certain," Cilghal said softly, "but you've likely sustained permanent neurological damage. Time will be the best indicator..."

"That's what I thought."

"I'm sorry, Siffia. But it's possible that you might get somewhat better."

"I hope so; I feel a bit useless."

"We'll figure this out, sweetie," Luke told her. Siffia found it a bit strange that he seemed to care about her so much, though she certainly didn't mind.


	19. Chapter 19

**_Jade Shadow_**

Luke Skywalker woke up to find himself in bed with his wife, Mara. He could feel her warm body against his. Her red gold hair was sticking up all over the place, making her look as though she'd recently become acquainted with one of those glass lightning orbs. Luke found the look absolutely adorable. He looked into her jade eyes, gazed deep down into their irises, becoming lost in their forests of green fibers. Luke would be content to just lie here with her for an eternity. He allowed his eyes to close, and enjoyed her warmth.

Luke Skywalker woke up to find himself in bed alone. Mara was gone; no longer could he feel her body heat. He closed his eyes, hoping it would bring him out of this nightmare in which she wasn't with him. Hoping it would bring him back to her. But no. His beloved Mara was gone. Even after all these years it was still their bed, and not merely his. Their bed felt so empty. Luke still couldn't let her go. Yes, he'd lost other women he'd loved, but he'd never had a child with any of them.

How could Luke ever be with another woman? He thought back to that moment of weakness, not long ago, when he'd woken up from that vision, and had wanted Irisia in his bed... What the void was wrong with him? He couldn't betray Mara.

Luke needed to see Mara. There was a place he could find her, but he'd made a vow to himself never to return there. It would just be far too tempting to stay. What would happen if he did stay, in a place he didn't belong? But Luke knew Ben would come looking for him if he went too long without showing himself. His son could go under easily enough and tell Luke it was time for him to return to his body.

Confident that Ben would know what to do should the need arise, Luke closed his eyes and allowed his thoughts to drift. Silently he counted from one to seven, picturing each number in his mind, gradually untethering his spirit from his body. He opened his eyes after a moment to find himself standing on a soggy little piece of grassy land, one among many, within what seem to be an endless swampy bog. Off in the distance, in every direction, was a thick, impenetrable fog. This was the Lake of Apparitions, existing on a spiritual plane called Beyond Shadows, to which the souls of Force users went upon death.

Luke focused his thoughts on his murdered wife, with her beautiful face, and long red gold hair, and mentally reached out toward her. He looked around a bit, until he saw her, her pale form floating over to him from the distance. Mindful of the dangers of this realm, he warily made his way to Mara. He knelt down beside her, and caressed her cheek. Her skin felt cold and dead. "Hi, Mara," he said softly.

Mara's deep green eyes fluttered open. "Skywalker," she said warningly, "you know you shouldn't be here."

"I love you, too," Luke responded. "And I know I shouldn't be here, but I really needed to see you. Are you... alright?"

Mara's expression softened quite a bit at the desperation in her husband's voice. "Yes, I'm fine. It's a lot like sleeping and being awake at the same time." She was silent a moment, and then her expression became serious. "Something's happening... out there, Luke; I can feel it."

Luke raised a surprised eyebrow. "So you can feel that here. I had no idea that could happen."

"That makes two of us, Farm Boy," his wife said. Luke couldn't help but smile at the phrase 'Farm Boy'. He wanted desperately to hold her again... He slipped an arm under her back.

"Luke, what the Mustafar are you doing?" Mara demanded. "I don't think you should be doing this."

"I need this right now, Mara," Luke said, gently beginning to lift her. She seemed so weak, as though her body had atrophied from years of inactivity. But this wasn't an actual physical body.

"Go ahead, then," she said, strangely not sighing.

Luke got her into a seated position, and wrapped his arms around her. He couldn't feel her heart beating, or her chest rising and falling, from her breathing. Of course, she was dead, so it shouldn't have been a surprise. He kissed her lifeless lips, and then allowed her to sit back slightly. "That wasn't so bad, was it."

"No," she said, smiling. "It wasn't bad at all. But I know you didn't come all this way just for a snog. You know what's going on, so talk, Farm Boy."

"Well, let's see. The Celestials are back; they were hiding in another dimension. They're at war with a race, called the Terrans, that had been pretending to be them. And of course the whole galaxy's gotten tractor-beamed into it."

"Of course," Mara repeated.

Luke nodded. "Both species are almost perfectly balanced in the Force; apparently the dark side isn't evil. So this conflict is throwing the Force off balance. When the Force becomes unbalanced it apparently attracts the attention of something called the Anti-Force. And a faction of the Celestials decided to use an Anti-Force based weapon to attack a Sith fleet; we've actually been working with the Sith, and the Empire. It's pretty much everyone against those rogue Celestials, now."

"That's a lot to take in."

"I know."

"And I've never heard of the Anti-Force," Mara commented.

"Not even Yoda knew about that," Luke agreed.

"There's something else, isn't there, Skywalker," Mara said.

"There are so many things I want to tell you, Mara, but..." his voice faltered.

"What's her name, Luke?"

"How did you..."

"How did I know," Mara said. "You're my husband; I know you."

Luke laughed softly. "Right. Her name's Irisia. She's the Terrans' former Grand Admiral, in fact."

"You really know how to pick them, don't you?" Mara replied.

"I also really know how to screw things up."

"What did you do, Luke?"

His expression soured, and his wife frowned in return. "I murdered someone she loved... and then I tried to murder her..."

" _Murder_?" Mara asked. "That's a pretty strong word."

Luke sighed. "I know, but it's the right word. It's not an excuse, but this whole thing with the Force being unbalanced has brought something really dark out in me," he explained. "It's affected Irisia too, because she tried to murder me."

"It sure doesn't sound like you."

"But it is me." Luke was silent a moment, and so was Mara. "Despite everything we're still on... alright terms. But I just don't see how we..."

"You're afraid that it's too late to try and fix things."

"The man I murdered was like a brother to her," Luke responded.

"She _might_ forgive you," Mara pointed out. "You'll never know unless you try. If it doesn't work out, and it makes things awkward between the two of you, then you'll just have to accept it. You need to go after this girl, Luke; you won't be cheating on me. You need to let me go, Skywalker. And the next time you show up here, you had bloody well better be dead. Or Force help me, I will find a way to follow you out of here, rematerialize, and behead you with your own blasted lightsaber. Got it?"

"Yes, I got it, my love. But can I kiss you one last time?"

"Only once," Mara said, with just a touch of sternness.

"Then I'll make it the longest one we've ever had." Luke sat his dead wife up, and kissed her for what seemed like an eternity. And after what wasn't nearly long enough, he laid her back down in the water and watched her float away, disappear. "Good bye, Mara."

Luke Skywalker woke up to find himself in bed alone. Mara was gone; no longer was she in his arms. He sighed, and sat up. Mara was right; as difficult as it was he needed to let her go, and move on. And he needed to go after Irisia, even if it didn't work out. He picked up his comlink and set it to the frequency of the comlink Admiral Bwua'tu had given Irisia.

"Master Skywalker?" asked Irisia's voice.

Luke suppressed a sigh at her rather impersonal greeting. "Hello, Irisia. I... needed to talk to you."

"I'm listening," she said tolerantly.

"How's Siffia been?"

"She's been sleeping most of the day," Irisia said, her tone softening. "Siffia can function enough to care for herself with her weapon on, but without it... Thank you for looking after her. You've been wonderful with her."

"I'm happy to help," Luke responded. None of that had been to win Irisia back; it had simply been the right thing to do. "She's a great kid."

"She is," Irisia agreed. "I sense there's more."

"Yes," Luke said slowly. He quietly blew out his breath. "I'm sorry... about Daedalus."

"He's still gone," Irisia pointed out, with an unexpected edge to her voice. She suddenly seemed like a different person. "But I appreciate your... apology."

Luke waited a moment for her to say something else. "There's one more thing," he said, hoping not to muff this part up. He sighed, bracing himself. "I know you said we could never be together, and I can accept that, but-"

"If that changes, I'll let you know," Irisia said, cutting him off, her tone a bit sharp.

"Alright, thank..." the line suddenly went dead; Irisia was, apparently, done talking. All things considered that had gone... decently. But she was really struggling emotionally.


End file.
